Why Audiences Love Our Productions

Are you new to Pigeon Creek Shakespeare and wondering if you would like our shows?  Of course we are biased and imagine that you probably would, but here are some thoughts about WHY you might want to come check out a performance!

Are you a Shakespeare lover?

If you already have a love of the Bard, either reading his plays or seeing them in performance, you might like our performances because

1. Our actors and directors are experts in making Shakespeare’s text come to life.  Most of our actors have studied Shakespearean performance in college and graduate school, and they also get specialized training with our company when they join a production cast.  All of our actors work on developing a deep understanding of the meaning and structure of Shakespeare’s plays so that they can convey meaning, character relationship, and the emotional nuance that Shakespeare portrays with poetic structure.  We bring distinguished directors from all over the country to work with our actors, creating ensembles of Shakespearean specialists to tell the stories in a clear, specific, and exciting way!

2. Our production style is inspired by the performance history of Shakespeare’s plays.  We use such elements as thrust staging, direct audience address, cross-gendered casting, live sound and music, and actor-focused performance on a relatively bare stage to make the characters and their stories immediate and intimate.  Want more detail about how we draw on the performance conditions of Shakespeare’s time?  Check out our PERFORMANCE PHILOSOPHY.

3.  You might discover something new!  We encourage actors to explore the texts of Shakespeare’s plays as if they are new works.  We don’t want you to only see the plays done the way you have seen them before.  Each production of a Shakespearean play is unique, and we want them to feel fresh and alive.

Are you a Shakespeare newbie?

If you are brand new to Shakespeare, or maybe know his plays only from high school English classes, you might like our performances because

1.Our actors and directors are experts in making Shakespeare’s text understandable and accessible.  The most common comment we hear from audience members is “I understood it!”  We do the work of analyzing the text and using tools such as vocal inflection, physical storytelling, and scene partner interaction to give our audiences confidence that they can follow the story.  Shakespeare can be funny, dirty, scary, heartbreaking, and joyful, sometimes all within the same play, and our actors are prepared to guide you.

2.  Our production style is inspired by the performance history of Shakespeare’s plays, and that makes our performances feel contemporary.  We don’t just break the fourth wall, we make it disappear Shakespeare and the other playwrights of his time period wrote audience interaction directly into the scripts of their plays, because the idea of an imaginary wall separating audience and actors didn’t exist for them.  Our performances are lively, interactive, fast-paced, and unexpected.  Want to find out more about the ways we use ideas from Shakespeare’s own time period?  Check out our PERFORMANCE PHILOSOPHY.

3.  You are the ideal audience for these plays.  Getting to see Shakespeare’s plays without knowing what will happen next, or what a performance is “supposed to” look like, means that you can experience them just like you do modern plays.  Coming to a performance allows you to make discoveries as you go.

We have an exciting 2024 season coming up, and we would love to see you at our performances, whether you are a seasoned scholar of Shakespeare, or have never seen one of his plays!