Fifteen years ago the American Shakespeare Center opened the Blackfriars Playhouse, the world’s only re-creation of Shakespeare’s indoor theatre.
It has since been the home of an ambitious sixteen-title artistic year, a training ground for the next generation of Shakespeare scholars, and the host of the bi-annual Blackfriars Conference. The American Shakespeare Center, an internationally acclaimed authority on Shakespeare performance and scholarship, will celebrate the fifteen years of accomplishments at the Blackfriars Playhouse throughout the month of September.
The American Shakespeare Center rounded out its Summer/Fall Season with the opening of The Rise of Queen Margaret (King Henry VI, Part 2) on September 9. Margaret is the second installment of the Wars of the Roses Ride, a four-part series beginning with last year’s Shakespeare’s Joan of Arc (Henry VI, Part 1) and continuing in 2017 with The Fall of King Henry (Henry VI, Part 3) and in 2018 with Richard III.
The company also launches its nine-month national tour the second week of September with the new Discovery Space touring set designed by ASC Props Master Chris Moneymaker that will bring the Blackfriars Playhouse experience to theatres across the nation. The 2016/17 Hungry Hearts Tour is an inspiring tour, with 44 tour stops and 76 performances planned throughout the east coast, south, and midwest.
As a thanks to the community which embraced the American Shakespeare Center and helped build the Blackfriars Playhouse fifteen years ago, the ASC is offering $15 tickets to the evening performance of The Rise of Queen Margaret (King Henry VI, Part 2) on September 21, the official anniversary. Tickets can be purchased online at AmericanShakespeareCenter.com with discount code SEPT21.
On September 24, the ASC puts Shakespeare on Trial at the Annual Benefit Celebration sponsored by Union Bank and the Stonewall Jackson Hotel and Conference Center. The Benefit Celebration will include a Facebook Live Red Carpet Event, one-night-only performance, and three course meal at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel.
The ASC concludes its month-long celebration on October 2nd with a staged reading of The True Chronicle History of King Leir and His Three Daughters featuring the ASC administrative staff. The True Chronicle… is an anonymous play often considered a source for Shakespeare’s King Lear.
For more information on ASC events and the Blackfriars Playhouse, visit www.AmericanShakespeareCenter.
Ticket prices start at $26. Residents of Staunton and Waynesboro or Augusta County can take advantage of $18 local rush tickets on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Student, Senior, Military, and AAA discounts are available.
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Chris Graham
