Have You Seen This Yet?

Does that sound like something you can get behind?
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http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/grassroots/grassroots-shakespeare-summer-tour-2012
Click the link to learn more!

What's next for the Grassroots Stage?

Have you ever found yourself wondering how you could possibly make your amazing touring stage even more amazing? Us too!!!

Here's a review of our visual aesthetic since our first touring year.


Our humble beginnings included four pillars and a roped off playing space.








Our second stage consisted of a cloth hung up between two ladders with an honorary bench and the dear old rope.





That's when UVU stepped in with a GEL grant to help us build our model for an authentic Elizabethan touring stage, pictured here in our show at the Masonic Temple.

So now we're thinking of giving our touring stage a face lift. Alex has been doing some research and found various examples of touring set ups from the Elizabethan, Jacobean and Restoration periods. What he's come up with, might look something like this:

Cool right? I know I for one was geeking out when I saw it. I also loved this quote from Alex on our discussion board, "The more I learn about Elizabethan aesthetics, the more convinced I become of it's propensity for ornate quality, intricate detail, and rich/gaudy impact."

It's gonna be an exciting summer!

So there was this one time...

So there was this one time our incredible mentor Kate McPherson decided it would be a good idea for Grassroots to host THE premiere original-practice scholar Tiffany Stern.

So a few weeks ago we drove down to UVU's field station in Capitol Reef National Park to spend time with her. Literally without the influence of her scholarship the ideas the started grassroots wouldn't have existed.

We learned about what got her into her research. As she told it, she was about 18 when her uncle invited her to research early modern rehearsal methods for his original Shakespeare company. From then on she found a special niche in scholarly research and became the leading scholar on the topic.

In the morning we demonstrated our rehearsal process for her, working a scene from Hamlet and performing one of our dumb shows from As You Like It. Her response to our work was very encouraging. She loved our exploration of relationship with the audience, and was SO excited to see a touring stage on Barrels!

We had a wonderful time in Capitol Reef. It happens to be one of the best places in the world for star-gazing. I must say, arriving at 3 in the morning, laying on the stage and looking at the stars was one of my highlights in a long history of wonderful grassroots memories.