Woodward Shakespeare Festival's Page

Hello, Raquel,

I'm intrigued by the Woodward Shakespeare Festival's interest in integrating other arts in your events, but want to mention that I'm a poet, not, primarily, a visual artist. It's possible you're only looking for visual artists--I won't be hurt if that's the case.

I do poetry readings fairly often--most recently I've worked on a number of National Poetry Month events, and read at the Clovis Public Library (James Tyner organized that) and at Roosevelt High School, which does a whole week of live poetry activities during the month of April.

I don't know if this would be interesting to you or your audience--but I'd like to suggest a reading/display of sonnets--modern and Shakespearean--so people can see and hear what Shakespeare's inspiration has wrought in our own American idiom. Some would be mine, but some from famous American poets. Some, of course, would be the Bard's. I also have a sonnet that is a painting (or is it vice versa?) which could be displayed.

I'm always interested in inter-art collaboration. My degree is from Cal-Arts in Theatre. I have a good sense of the theatrical demands of performance (e.g. read-aloud poetry SHOULDN'T be boring), a lot of useful vocal training, and a background in performance of a broad range of theatrical styles and periods. Depending on your longevity here, I was a founding member of the Theatre 3 Repertory Company down on Fulton St. in the 80's. If you want to know other stuff about me, Craig Bernthal, who has worked with the Woodward Shakespeare Festival, knows my work well.

Let me know dates, if, of course, what I'm suggesting is interesting to you.

Megan Bohigian