SILICON VALLEY SHAKESPEARE
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SAN JOSE, CA -- ART, which has been humanity's detriment to despair for centuries, this time, as around the world people sheltered at home, hid their faces behind masks, and became discouraged because of the spread and variants of the COVID, answered the call of Artistic Director of Silicon Valley Shakespeare, Angie Higgins (pictured above) when she asked: "How can those who have a deep appreciation of the arts pull themselves out of their own mourning?. Can Art bring joy to our patrons, despite the circumstances? and answering her questions, ART said: "Yes." Inspired by ART, and her explorer's heart, Artistic Director Higgins started to climb the peak of her creativity and upon reaching the summit, determined that new problems demand new solutions, so, she started thinking NEW MEDIUMS to present her theatrical productions, among them: Podcasts, film, electronic transmission, computers, Zoom, cell phones to name a few. At the end, the Artistic Director decision was that for the first time, Silicon Valley Shakespeare, was not going to let "The Bard" (Shakespeare) tell us his stories, but the stories were going to be original and presented to their audience in a unique provocative one-man show, not written by ONE PERSON or presented by ONE ACTOR, but written by SIX non-Western BIPOC (The name referring to Black, Indigenous and People of Color) writers, who were commissioned to write original retellings of folktales from the countries, which were representative of their culture. The native folktales were conveyed to the audience, in the words and actions of SIX different ACTORS, each one, telling one folktale and acting the action. The Streamed show should be so well acted, by each one of the individual actors, that each one must have been able to, vicariously, transport the online viewers to the different country they were describing, by flying over each one of them, in an invisible flying carpet, woven with words so precise, that one could "see" the action. Appropriately, the magic Streamed show was given the name of FOLKTALES FROM AROUND THE WORLD The show is under the Direction of Director Anne Yumi Kobori, who was also one of the six writers, commissioned to write the Folktales. and the one who wrote the one that in our opinion is the most poetic one: THE CRANE WIFE (JAPAN) about the love of a human and a crane.
After the six tales were selected, they were acted by six actors, put together, pre filmed, and under the name of FOLKTALES FROM AROUND THE WORLD, streamed online for the audience to watch from August 13, to August 29, 2021. The other five folktales that will be presented in the program will be: KAI KAI & TRENG TRENG (FROM CHILE) Written By:
THE TWO BEARS (YAQUI, MEXICO) Written By:
THE TRAGIC ROMANCE OF SOHNI AND MAHIWAL (PAKISTAN) written By:
MAMI WATA (NIGERIA) Written By:
And THE SUN, THE MOON, THE WIND & THE SKY (INDIA) Written By:
The success of this production, which was so dear to SVS staff and is being hailed by the audience, may have also changed SHAKESPEARE SILICON VALLEY, that from now will continue to bring their patrons, not only traditional plays but work that celebrates the rich culture of Silicon Valley, our community and beyond. So, SHAKESPEARE SILLICON VALLEY is now ready to take its next step, which will be not only to innovate the classics, as it did before, but to pay the way for artists inspiration which go beyond THE BARD, In her program's message to SVS's online audience, Artistic Director Higgins ended her message by saying: "No matter where you are in the roller coaster life can be now, I hope you take this time to immerse yourselves in the beauty of this tales. It is only when we begin to appreciate the beauty of the world around us (even when in turmoil) that we can really be the community that we should be. For more information about SVS Folktales From Around the world, and how to purchase Tickets for the online streaming go to: https://www.svshakespeare.org/ THIS ARTICLE IS THE FIRST OF TWO ARTICLES TO BE PUBLISHED IN CULTURAL WORLD BILINGUAL. THE SECOND ARTICLE WILL BE FOCUSED ON FOLK TALES AROUND THE WORLD AND THEIR ACTORS, AND THE STORIES> CHECK US AGAIN, IN A FEW DAYS.
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