Salman Rushdie and Shakespeare

I've been meaning to post about this for 2 months -- better late than never!

One of the wonderful things about living in a university town is the eclectic opportunities to expand your mind. My favorite chance is our town's annual Seven Days of Opening Nights arts festival, which presents shows and talks by award-winning authors, dance companies, musicians, acting troupes, and filmmakers. The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, and I make a point to attend at least 2 or 3 shows each year. This year, I was able to attend two of the best ones yet.

First, a talk by world-famous, award-winning author Salman Rushdie. I've read one of Mr. Rushdie's books, Midnight's Children, and loved it, so I was really looking forward to hearing him speak. To say that I enjoyed it is a HUGE understatement. He absolutely blew me away! I was completely enthralled. I know people don't always care for his work, but I think he's nothing short of a genius. He spoke for 2 hours, and took questions afterward, and I never once felt like the program was dragging or thought of leaving early. All I can say is, WOW! I felt like a schoolgirl when the football captain notices her existence.

Then, my son and I attended a performance of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, presented by the Actors from the London Stage troupe. This group was founded in the 70's by the actor Patrick Stewart (of Star Trek Next Generation fame) and is composed of actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre of Great Britain, and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The way in which the play was presented was intriguing -- no sets, no costumes, only 5 actors in total. Each actor had to play several parts, and would distinguish between them predominantly by changing their voices and mannerisms. It was fabulous! Without all the visual cues, I found myself focusing so much more on the words. Also, the audience was very close to the stage and the actors often looked right at you. At one point, one of the actors actually jumped into the audience. We were in the front row, which I highly recommend. You really felt like you were part of the show, not just a spectator. Apparently, the group performs 2 plays a year and tours to different universities to perform -- you can bet I'll go again if I get the chance.

One other thing that I just have to mention. As part of performing at our festival, the artists spend time working with students in their field. Can you imagine being an 18 or 19 year old kid, studying to be a writer, and having Salman Rushdie spend the afternoon with your class, critiquing your work? Or being a music major and having Paul Simon work with you? I think this is wonderful and want to give our festival organizers credit for this brainstorm every chance I get. I also want to encourage anyone who has the opportunity to support local or regional arts events like this in their area to do so. They are such an advantage to a community!