An Update

I am surprised to see that there has been an increase of activity on this blog site for

The Shakespearean Journal

Sadly, I have not been focusing much energy on Shakespearean activity 

for the last two years.

After a sequence of events, I shifted over to Colonial Reenactments,

which , in fact, I've also stopped doing. However...

Here are some photograph of the stage we built in Tamanend Park 

and some of the activity that took place.

The initial stage set-up, later we added painted drops
to make it look like a stone building.

The backstage area

The stage was disassembled in 2012 due, in part to Vandalism. Here's a view of the back stage area.  I was planning on building an acting platform overhead if the stage were to become more of a permanent fixture in the park, which is something were were striving for. The next stage of operations would have been to replace the stage with another one made of stone.


We were beginning to see decay and insect infestation. I made an attempt to initiate reconstruction of the stage from stone, but again the vandal issue was such a problem for us, the township and the police that it was mutually decided that we should remove the stage.

The final blow from the vandals

 But it does get down to the fact that - the vandals in the park became too much for me and I was getting pretty angry about it.  We were all working hard to put together a nice program, but there were other  individuals with less desirable character, who somehow chose to spend their energy on destroying what we were trying to build.

The Renaissance Players

We built the stage as a test. It was a test to see if the community would step up and support this kind of creative endeavor in Southampton. I, and others, worked very hard for four years to generate interest and support for these activities. Well the interest began to grow, but the support, in terms of both money and hands-on activity, simply wasn't there.

We produced Cinema Under the Stars as a means to enhance the stage activity, but although we had an amazing set-up, which was very cozy, fun and not inexpensive to build, not enough people were willing to spend and evening under the stars to watch a movie.  It was like a "walk-in" (as opposed to a drive-in).  I found myself delighted by it, until it started costing me too much.

The stage with the screen up and ready to show movies,
 the speaker system was placed on the ends of the stage

An early set-up, later we had it more refined with a very nice array of concessions and excellent lighting

We did stage programs before it got dark enough for the movie and we did have quite a few people join us on the stage at various times. All in all, it was a wonderful opportunity for the community, but they simply did not respond sufficiently and were too busy running their kids off to sporting events to bother with what we were offering them. That became very apparent.

So the vandals made it even more difficult, but the final straw (for me) was when we were producing a Gilbert & Sullivan event in conjunction with "Topsy Turvy" and we got rained out three times.  You can see that listed below. That was it for me. I said no more outdoor theatre without an indoor back-up location. Unfortunately, in Southampton all the possible locations were being used by sporting events. There was no suitable accommodation in Southampton for theatre. (even though , as I say below, there is an amphitheater (although I have a different opinion about that space.).

So this is my touching base with those of you who have been looking at The Shakespearean Journal and I thank you for your interest. There are possibilities in the future, but for me I am busy with producing a Broadway Musical titled The Gnomes of New Hope: Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure. You can also find more on that at The IMS Virtual Studio.

Difficulties posting

   I find that my operating system is no longer supported in FireFox and posting on these blogs is becoming increasingly difficult. I do hope to update as soon as I can, so keep that in mind and please do not become frustrated with the outdated information. If you'd like to discuss any of the information here, please do so via email.  Thanks AG

UPDATE 3/2013

   I noticed a spike in views to this page, so I thought I'd post something more current.

  Not much to report with the Shakespearean activity.  

  As mentioned elsewhere, the stage has been removed from Tamanend Park, thus putting an end to our activities there. I do have intentions of rebuilding the stage and pursuing outdoor production work again in the future, but if there is one thing I have learned form the four years we spent trying to develop a troupe of players... the weather can be an issue, a big issue!
  

    I've also come to conclude that there must be a network of people with a strong dedication to making it work.  I and a few others made the mistake of taking up the bulk of the slack without insisting that the burden be shared and that was simply too much.

   So I have focused my energies on building my studio, repairing my equipment, and producing the project "The Gnomes of New Hope: Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure". I see the success of this project as being able to provide the resources to do the classical work and properly develop the Shakespearean Activity in the proper environment.





   As for Tamanend Park and Southampton... I believe that the community is simply not willing to offer the kind of support that makes the effort worthwhile. That might change at some point, because there was a good amount of talk about support, but the actual kind of support that makes an endeavor take hold and endure, was simply not there.

    I have to admit that the proverbial "nail in the coffin" for me was the ongoing battle with vandals. I simply got tired of repairing the senseless damage that they seemed to enjoy inflicting upon the stage. I also found myself rather irritated by the dog walkers who left their dog crap all over the place and they even went so far as to leave bags of it, piles of it, behind the concession counter.

  So I figured "if that's the way they want to treat this gift to the community, then they don't deserve my labor" so I stopped throwing my pearls before the swine, as he teaches in the bible.

    For those of you who are still interested in doing Shakespeare, so am I.  I have equipment, ability and knowledge. If you would like to produce something, we can do that, so long as we have a minimum of three producers willing to hit the bricks, raise money and pull together a team. 

   Feel free to communicate with me about that, but remember, my priority is The Gnomes of New Hope.

AG