By Elizabeth Pierdominici

This March marks the 56th Annual Shakespeare Festival, in which the Department of Drama and Dance will honor the world-renowned playwright and poet with a production utilizing a historical replication of the Globe Theater.

William Shakespeare once wrote: “All the world’s a stage and the men and women are merely players.” In this spirit, student actors will extensively study the art of Shakespeare’s writing and stage direction to articulate the profundity of his classic tragedy, “Julius Caesar.”

However, many students and members of the faculty are unaware of the University’s ties to the modern study and restoration of the original Globe Theater that is currently preserved in London.

Upon the completion of the Globe in 1599, the theater was home to numerous stage performances of Shakespeare’s classic works prior its destruction by a fire in 1613.

 John Cranford Adams, the University’s second president (1944-1964), an esteemed scholar of literature and chief founder of the annual Shakespeare Festival, dealt heavily with literary and biographical aspects of Shakespeare. During his senior research fellowship at the Folger-Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., Adams dedicated his dissertation for doctoral candidacy to creating an accurate scale model of the Globe Theater.

Collectively, 25,000 pieces were used in constructing the replica. Adams incorporated walnut to imitate the timber of the Globe; plaster was placed with a spoon and medicine dropper; and 6,500 “tiny” bricks that were measured by pencil eraser strips were individually placed on the model.

“John Cranford Adams’ reconstruction of the Globe is a rare gift to every actor who has the opportunity to perform on it,” Felicity Claire, senior drama and English major, said. “It transports the actor and the audience to one of the most vibrant periods in theatrical history. It is the ultimate way in which we might embrace the tradition of Shakespeare in performance.”

This model is displayed on the 10th floor of the Axinn Library, where those who are curious can visit a simulation of the Globe with out ever having to step outside of campus.

To christen the first festival in 1950, Adams and Professor Donald. H. Sweeney, the technical director of the Department of Drama, designed and created a five-sixth scale life-size production set that was exhibited in Calkins Gymnasium. In 1958, the John Cranford Adams Playhouse was erected and became the new home to the set and festival.

Through the years, many students have acted in the festival and graduated from the University to embark on performing professionally. Among the distinguished alum is the late Madeline Khan, James Barbour (Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast and Assassins), Peter Friedman (Broadway’s Twelve Angry Men and Ragtime), and Tom McGowan (“Frasier” and “Everybody Loves Raymond”). Traditionally, students sign their names, years and roles on the panels of the set as reminder of their participation and an addition to the rich history of the festival.

Stage hands and technicians devote nearly 800 man hours into assembly and 300 more for disassembly, storage and repair. Approximately 40 student actors are cast in this year’s presentation of “Julius Caesar,” all of whom tirelessly perfect their roles.

So much attention is paid to detail in the set along with the production that the festival is a well-received event for the community.

Dr. James Kolb, professor of drama and chair of the Department of Drama and Dance, expresses pleasure in his fourth year of direction of the festival.

“Performing Shakespeare is its own reward,” he said. “The subject matter and material of Shakespeare’s works challenge the student actors and allow people to explore many aspects of literature and drama.”

“Julius Caesar” was presented for the first festival in 1950 and again in 1964. It will make its third visit to the playhouse this year. The tragedy was chosen partly on its familiarity with the students and its relevance to the current time.

“‘Julius Caesar’ was originally written with political ambition that mirrors the recent presidential elections and our current political history,” Kolb said.

“It is justified to present Shakespeare’s work in relation to a given era,” Dr. John L. Klause, professor of English and freshman composition, said. “It is difficult to impose one’s own politics without being scrupulous. When I was in graduate school during the Vietnam era, my professor decided to initiate a teach-in where he taught ‘Henry V,’ a play that has perennial importance and spoke to political concerns of our time.”

“”Julius Caesar” is incredibly relevant to the current America and its engagement in the War,” Quinn Hushion, a junior and drama major who plays the character Brutus in the production, said. “There are parallels to be found in the play, like in the preempted murder of Julius Caesar due to Brutus’ fear that Caesar will misuse his power, as a sort of ‘weapon of mass destruction.’

Aside from the political stimulation that one may experience from attending the festival, a sense of aesthetic appeal can also be acquired.

“I like to see that a director has attempted to find a new way to present an overly done text, be it through setting, the interpretation of a particularly complex character or even the general message of the play,” Claire, who plays Portia, said. “The festival compliments the literary and dramatic traditions on campus. While it is important to study Shakespeare’s work in a classroom, his plays were meant to be seen on the stage and to be acted by a company of actors.”

Both Hushion and Claire agree the festival offers an enhanced experience of Shakespeare for the actors and the audience. Hushion, who recently traveled abroad to London, was able to visit the actual Globe Theater.

“It was an amazing experience and a dream to visit the Globe,” he said. “The set designers and builders here work so hard to achieve a realistic effect, and in my opinion they succeed.”

The accurate scale model of the Globe Theater in John Cranford Adams Playhouse was erected in 1958. (Photo courtest www.hofstra.edu)