Rachelle Kratz Archives - �� News

‘Twelfth Night: A Musical Remix’ to be performed at Capital Fringe Festival in Washington D.C.

Lauren Jefferson — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 02:18:04 +0000

��’s fall 2014 production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” was such a rousing hit that the play, which has been called the “Moulin Rouge version,” has been adapted for a metropolitan theatre festival.

“Twelfth Night: A Musical Remix” will be performed by a troupe of actors from �� and at the in Washington D.C. Performances will be July 9, 18, 21, 23 and 25 at the Trinidad Theatre.

The production is visually and kinetically dynamic, with music, choreography, make-up and costumes inspired by carnivals and underwater dance. It has been adapted, directed and produced by Assistant Professor of Theater , with an original score composed by James E. (Jim) Clemens.

“This is an opportunity to showcase our work and our student actors to an international audience in a major metropolitan area and important cultural center,” Poole said.

The Capital Fringe Festival takes place over 18 days in July with over 140 productions, roughly 800 individual performances, showcasing 5,000 artists. Organizers encourage potential performers to “express their talents and to develop their artistic freedom without any curatorial barriers,” according to the website.

“This is a massive international festival,” Poole said, “and the fact that it’s unjuried encourages innovation and creativity. Anyone can come and perform, but at the same time, it’s a place where well-known professionals can be innovative, venture into new art forms, experiment and take risks.”

While the original production was technically ambitious, with swings and a rotating piano, Poole says the “remix” has been condensed and simplified to meet festival requirements. Despite what he calls “trimming the fat” – from three hours to 70 minutes and from 11 actors to six – the most compelling features are intact, including the makeup, costumes and original musical score, sung by the actors and accompanied by Clemens on piano and �� sophomore Jacinda Stahly on violin.

“This production enables us to tell the same sweeping story while relying more heavily on the essential components of any theatrical production: the actors’ voices, bodies and imaginations,” Poole said.

The cast, comprised of students, alumni, and former students, includes MaKayla Baker, Holly Hanks, Clara Bush and Shannon Dove. Belen Fernandez is the make-up artist. Rachelle Kratz is assistant director and stage manager. Costumes are created by Ama Ansah, based on the original designs of Holly Labbe.

The cast also includes actors from Wanderlust Theatre Company co-founded by Poole and his wife, Amanda. The company specializes in experimental productions of classical works and the development of original performances inspired by border crossings and cultural issues.

Performance Dates and Times

Thursday, July 9 at 6 p.m.

Saturday, July 18 at noon

Tuesday, July 21 at 9:45 p.m.

Thursday, July 23 at 6 p.m.

Saturday, July 25 at 8:15 p.m.

All performances are Trinidad Theatre. For venue information, directions and tickets to the Capital Fringe Festival, visit or call (866) 811-4111.

Editor’s Note: On July 26, with recognition for Favorite Musical, Favorite Ensemble and Favorite Overall Show. Additionally, three actors were among those honored as Favorite Performers: Holly Hanks, Sean Byrne and Shannon Dove.

Upcoming production of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ is a richly carnivalesque comedy

Randi B. Hagi — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 20:57:07 +0000

The guiding concept behind ��’s ” is “drowning in excess,” says actress Makayla Baker. Fittingly, the performance begins with a shipwreck. Music, choreography, make-up and costumes inspired by carnivals and underwater dance create a visually and kinetically dynamic retelling of the play.

“It is richly comic and has dark undertones, which are rarely explored as fully as we are exploring in our production,” says , director and assistant professor, of his favorite Shakespearean work.

“ opens Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the Lee Eshleman Studio Theater and continues with nightly performances through Saturday, Nov. 22. Matinees are on Saturday, Nov. 22, and Sunday, Nov. 23 at 3 p.m.

The story revolves around Viola, played by Rachelle Kratz. After the shipwreck, she is rescued on the shores of Illyria, thinking that her twin brother Sebastian (Jeremiah Hines) is dead. She disguises herself as a young man named Cesario, and enters the service of Duke Orsino (Sam Swartzendruber). The Duke believes he is in love with a woman named Olivia (Clara Bush), who falls for Viola’s masculine persona. Love triangles, pranks, and hilarity ensue.

“The language of Shakespeare is passion put to pen,” says Poole. “It takes all of an actor’s physical and mental capacity to play it well.”

Baker, who plays Olivia’s gentlewoman Maria, reads not only lines but personality from the script. “My biggest challenge has been finding the pockets where Shakespeare is telling me secrets about the way I should deliver my lines,” she says. “My character never speaks in iambic pentameter, which means that she is rough around the edges with her speech.”

Her acting process involves taking the script and a backstory she creates, and filing that away. “I keep my brain clear and my body becomes the storyteller for my character,” Baker says.

Swartzendruber humorously describes the month-long experience of learning the Duke’s part, “squinting at a page and having no idea what you’re yelling about,” struggling to heed Poole’s instructions to behave naturally, “because nothing about the situation is anywhere close to natural.”

In the end, though, embodying that foreign character for an audience is what keeps Swartzendruber in the theater. “It’s one of the best feelings I’ve ever experienced,” he says.

Considering the complexities of the set, costumery and props, the technical crew working behind the scenes is multi-faceted. Assistant stage manager Mindy Esworthy calls herself a “jack of all trades during rehearsal.” On any given day, she’ll be taking notes or making props.

“Sometimes the writing [of Shakespeare] can be offputting, and people don’t see how truly creative it is,” says Esworthy. “I’m hoping that our interpretation of Twelfth Night will help show that creative side of the formal language.”

Creative interpretation is a driving force behind this production. An original score by local composer James E. (Jim) Clemens, who has collaborated with �� musicians in the past, is a highlight, says Poole.

Swartendruber suggests that audience members familiarize themselves with the plot beforehand to better appreciate the show.

“Justin’s directing always twists things in different ways to kill any preconceived ideas people have about the way things are going to turn out,” he says.

Despite its complexity, playgoers should expect anything but stodginess in what Baker calls “the Moulin Rouge version of Twelfth Night.”

Tickets are available at the �� Box Office in University Commons weekdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Costs are adult ($12), senior 65 + ($9), youth up to age 18 ($9), �� student ($5), and �� faculty/staff ($9). The Thursday evening performance is “pay what you will” for �� faculty and staff to benefit the �� theater scholarship fund.

Performances:

Wednesday, November 19, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 20, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, November 21, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 22, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sunday, November 23, 3 p.m.

�� “Honors” 53 Incoming Students

Mike Zucconi — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:58:24 +0000

�� (��) will welcome in 53 incoming students to the honors program, the largest class in the program’s history.

In addition, two incoming students, Hannah Chappell-Dick, a senior at Bluffton High School in Bluffton, Ohio, and Charlie Good, a senior at Warwick High School in Lititz, Pa., were recognized as Yoder Scholars, the highest academic award an incoming student can receive.

“I’m very excited about the number and caliber of students who applied this year,” said Mark Sawin, program director and chair of history at ��. “Hannah and Charlie are both wonderfully creative and curious people with wide-ranging interests and strong leadership abilities. I’m grateful they’ve decided to join us as next year’s Yoder Scholars.”

Honors student candidates are evaluated on academic performance, community and extra-curricular involvement, creativity, clarity of thought and leadership potential. In addition to being in the honors program, candidates submit a portfolio of their high school achievements, write a series of essays and meet with a member of the honors faculty for a one-on-one interview.

“The interaction with faculty mentors and each other in a variety of settings provides an opportunity for highly motivated scholars to develop as thinkers and wrestle with big questions,” says Sawin, a 2008-09 Fulbright Scholar at University of Zagreb in Croatia.

Chappell-Dick is an incoming biochemistry major while Good plans to major in chemistry.

The students accepted into the honors program are:

Alex Bender from Sarasota, Fla., Pine View School

Malachi Bontrager from Westbrookville, N.Y., Iowa Mennonite School

Rachel Bowman from Archbold, Ohio, Archbold High School

Kristoffer Broadley from Wichita, Kan., homeschooled

Anne Brothers from Rockville, Md., Montgomery Blair High School

Ashley Cox from Mountville, Pa., Hempfield High School

Melissa Cox from Mountville, Pa., Hempfield High School

Patty Danaher from South Chesterfield, Va., Matoaca High School

Isaac Driver from Harrisonburg, Va., Eastern Mennonite High School

Amy Feeser from Lancaster, Pa., Penn Manor High School

Rehana Franklin from Modesto, Calif., Modesto High School

Derek Harnish from Strasburg, Pa., Lampeter-Strasburg High School

Kate Harrold from Millersville, Pa., Penn Manor High School

Amanda Helfrich from Bradford, Ohio, Greenville Senior High School

Caitlin Holsapple from Harrisonburg, Va., Eastern Mennonite High School

Melissa Jantzi from Albany, Ore., Eastern Mennonite High School

Brianna Kauffman from Harleysville, Pa., Christopher Dock Mennonite High School

Andrea King from Lititz Pa., Warwick High School

Kari King from Harrisonburg, Va., Harrisonburg High School

Sierra Kiser from Stuarts Draft, Va., Stuarts Draft High School

Jaclyn Kratz from Telford, Pa., Christopher Dock Mennonite High School

Rachelle Kratz from Telford, Pa., Christopher Dock Mennonite High School

Brooke Lacock from Paradise, Pa., Pequea Valley High School

Olivia Mast from Lancaster, Pa., Lancaster Mennonite School

Katie Miller from San Antonio, Tex., Louis D. Brandeis High School

Maddie Miller from Wellman, Ia., Iowa Mennonite School

Elise Mitchell from Elkhart, Ind., Elkhart Central High School

Erin Nafziger from Archbold, Ohio, Archbold High School

Jolee Paden from Saint Joseph, Ill., St. Joseph-Ogden High School

Aaron Patterson from Midlothian, Va., homeschooled

Alicia Poplett from Plymouth, Minn., Wayzata Senior High School

Emilie Raber from Dalton, Ohio, Central Christian High School

Jesse Reist from Lancaster, Pa., JP McCaskey High School East

Jess Rheinheimer from Manheim, Pa., Lancaster Mennonite School

John David Satriale from Gap, Pa., Lancaster Mennonite School

Lauren Sauder from Smoketown, Pa., Lancaster Mennonite School

Michelle Sauder from Linville, Va., Eastern Mennonite High School

Carissa Sherer from Joy, Pa., Donegal High School

Kritika Shrestha from Germantown, Md., Clarksburg High School

Rachel Springer from Minier, Ill., Olympia High School

Seth Stauffer from Lebanon, Pa., Northern Lebanon Jr-Sr High School

Sarah Sutter from Urbana, Ill., University Laboratory High School

Kate Swartz from Spring City, Pa., Christopher Dock Mennonite High School

Sam Swartzendruber from Kalona, Ia., Iowa Mennonite School

Ryan Swartzendruber from Sellersville, Pa., Christopher Dock Mennonite High School

Stephanie Toth from Lake Milton, Ohio, Cardinal Mooney High School

Aaron Wile from Telford, Pa., Christopher Dock Mennonite High School

Alena Yoder from Elkhart, Ind., Bethany Christian High School

Kegan Yoder from Plaine City, Ohio, Jonathan Alder High School