By Daily Press staff
Overseas actors will spend a week at Santa Monica College and cap the visit with two performances of “Romeo and Juliet.”
Actors from the London Stage — a group of five classically trained actors from such companies as Royal Shakespeare and Royal National — will conduct seminars and workshops for theater, English and other SMC students, and will also make presentations to middle and high school students in Santa Monica.
Performances of Romeo and Juliet will be held at 7:30 p.m. on March 5 and 6 at Lincoln Middle School Auditorium, located at 1501 California Ave.
Tickets are $10 general admission and $5 for students with I.D. For tickets, call (310) 434-3000 or for information, call (310) 434-4303. The residency and public performances are sponsored by the SMC Associates, a private organization that funds speakers and special programs on campus.
Using minimal props, costumes and lighting effects, the five actors play all the roles in the full-length Shakespeare play — 21 in the case of “Romeo and Juliet” — shifting from role to role by gesture, stance, intonation or the use of a skirt or scarf.
The actors also cross gender boundaries. The actor playing Romeo will also play Lady Montague and other roles.
Actors from the London Stage, which started in 1975, have toured colleges and universities throughout the United States. Patrick Stewart and Ian Richardson in previous years were among the actors in the program.
The actors’ residency is an educational program developed by Homer Swander in 1975 at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The theater company is now based in London, England, and at the University of Notre Dame.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 25, 2004. Read the original PDF.