The four hundredth birthday of the publication of Shakespeare’s sonnets may have come and gone, but ARTFARM is going to “party like it’s 1599” anyway. For the second straight year, this Middletown-based theater company will be staging a Shakespeare Sonnet Slam and Elizabethan Bash!, and this time WNPR’s Colin McEnroe will be helping out the cause as “Celebrity Host” for the event.
The Shakespeare Sonnet Slam will be held on Thursday, April 8 at 7 pm at Kidcity Children’s Museum in Middletown. The public is invited to come enjoy a raucous sixteenth century party, including period music, food, drink, Elizabethan celebrities and, of course, an array of performances based on Shakespeare’s sonnets.
The Sonnet Slam is a Shakespeare Poetry Slam & Performance Event first held last year to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the original publication of Shakespeare's Sonnets.
Performers of all ages will bring their artistry to one of the Bard’s 154 sonnets, including professional actors from around Connecticut. The recitals will include a variety of theatrical elements -- from singing and dancing to puppets and “circus” sonnets. Additionally, wandering performers will engage the audience in Shakespearean insult contests, and guests will have the opportunity to experience a royal audience – and photo opportunity - with Queen Elizabeth I.
“The Sonnet Slam is the artistic centerpiece”, says ARTFARM Artistic Director Marcella Trowbridge, “but the entire museum will be turned into an Elizabethan Festival. Shakespearean characters and Elizabethan royalty will be working the crowd. Joseph Getter and Mick Bolduc of the “Shakespeare in the Grove” band will be playing period music as the audience arrives. Local musical icon Bob Alexander will be performing on the electric harpsichord. Of course there will be plenty of wonderful food and drink, donated by local merchants and individuals and served up by elegantly costumed actors. People can get involved in a number of ways, depending on their comfort level -- perform a sonnet, sponsor a performer, or simply attend the event. Even though the Shakespeare Sonnet Slam is a fund raising event to support ARTFARM’s Shakespeare in the Grove 2010 production of As You Like It, at $14 per person it is the entertainment bargain of the sixteenth century.”
To perform in the Shakespeare Sonnet Slam individuals must solicit generous patrons to “sponsor” their sonnet performances by making donations in support of Shakespeare in the Grove. Sponsorships are in multiples of fourteen – in honor of the fourteen lines of a sonnet. Prizes will be awarded to the performers with the highest patronage totals, and each performer who raises more than $500 in sponsorships will be entered into a drawing for a week in a vacation house on the Maine coast.
Tickets to the Elizabethan Bash! are $14 and include tickets for two drinks. Sonnet performers are admitted to the Elizabethan Bash! for free, but must register with ARTFARM by April 5 in order to perform.
ARTFARM’s Shakespeare in the Grove has been providing free, professional outdoor Shakespeare to central Connecticut audiences since 2006. This year’s production of Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It will be held July 8 to 18 overlooking the Connecticut River Valley at Middlesex Community College.
Kidcity Children’s Museum is located at 119 Washington Street in Middletown. For more information, including Shakespeare Sonnet Slam guidelines and sponsor forms, go to www.art-farm.org. If you have questions, call ARTFARM at (860) 346-4390 or email info@art-farm.org.
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