Yes, yes, yes ….on behalf of those of us who might not have 7-14 days….or the capacity to
memorize lines (eg. Goneril). Please consider some auxiliary roles for those of us who
would love to come and participate for shorter periods of time.
Heather Dolstra (also 1973, Lear not Tempest)
From: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list(a)googlegroups.com
[mailto:shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Robert Faires
Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2017 5:58 PM
To: Clayton Stromberger <cstromberger(a)austin.utexas.edu>
Cc: James Ayres <jayres(a)cvctx.com>om>; Shakespeare Winedale Winedale
<shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list(a)googlegroups.com>om>; Shakespeare at Winedale
1970-2000 alums <winedale-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Subject: Re: The best news is . .. ..
Late arrival, as usual, but still on board for the reunion in whatever capacity is
helpful.
[(OFFSTAGE) FRANCIS!
Anon, anon, sir.]
Clayton's missive when he was on leave from the past sparked some thoughts in my mind.
With regard to meeting up in Austin before all congregate at Winedale, I concede his point
that it's a challenge to build a sense of ensemble that way, but as a member of the
weekend reunion company in 2010, I feel that we managed to do that. Granted, we were a
smallish group, but the mindset and enthusiasm and spirit of play were all in place every
time we got together, and we had only a day or two at Winedale before we performed, but I
felt that we bonded pretty well in that time and had a lot of fun pulling our scenes
together. (God bless the late Lizz Ketterer for being such an inspiration there.)
That's to say I think meeting beforehand in Austin or elsewhere is still worth
considering as we discuss how to mine more reunion time together out of the days leading
up to the 50th.
I've also been thinking about all the alums who might not be able to set aside a full
week to spend at Winedale before the reunion but who might want to participate in some
way. What if each of those folks were assigned a sonnet or a Kenneth Patchen poem (!), and
at some point everyone who had one could perform theirs under the pecan trees, the way the
weekend reunion class did its scenes in 2010? It'd be a nod to the early days when Doc
would assign those to students before class started and we would perform them for one
another on the first nights we were at Winedale, and it would give people a chance to feel
like they're a part of the celebration and particularly the performance aspect of it.
And since those works are short, it allows a large number of people to take part. It might
also be a cool way to include more alums from Camp Shakespeare and James' classes as
well as Doc's. Personally, I'd love to see 12 year olds interpreting sonnets
alongside us AARP types. And it wouldn't necessarily have to be all solo performances.
If 2 or more alums wanted to do a sonnet together so they could have a chance to play with
someone, why not? Rob Matney and I hosted a sonnet marathon once, with people signing up
to read the sonnets, and it took just a couple of hours to get through all of them.
Anyway, I just throw that out there as a suggestion for giving more people a chance to get
involved and as a way to celebrate the 50th with something that hasn't ever been done
before at Winedale (to my knowledge).
Lastly, this from the late guy: How great to follow in the wake of so much enthusiasm and
shared love for this program and the grand gift Doc has given us. Here's to making the
golden anniversary gleam!
Anon, anon. I come.
On Wed, Aug 9, 2017 at 10:31 AM, Clayton Stromberger <cstromberger(a)austin.utexas.edu
<mailto:cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu> > wrote:
Inne! (the Elizabethan spelling)
I love that line and I don’t remember being there to hear it spoken by Alice (though now
I’m pausing to imagine it, and Alice, you sound wonderful, I can feel the joy of reunion
in it). I was 12 and was probably at Lost Pines Boy Scout Camp with Troop 1 demonstrating
my ineptitude with knots yet again and so I missed the boat, so to speak, on that
performance. But I can certainly still hear and see Jeff Larsen in 1983 busting out those
words with a full tank of air (and full beard) from the balcony, Dave Sharpe grinning
jauntily beside him and punctuating Jeff’s line about the Master “capering to aye her” by
propping his foot triumphantly up on the railing and planting his elbow on his knee as if
to say, “How about THAT, matey?!”
I feel fairly certain Jeff won the Boatswain Award that year as well.
I confess to being a bit disoriented upon receipt of these emails, but happily so, as I
was knee deep and inch thick in the middle of the last reunion mentally and emotionally
(and archivally…. for those of you who weren’t in the 2015 class, I have been working for
some time on a written account of some of that week, as much as I can tell well, and I’ve
promised it absolutely positively by the 2nd anniversary of the 45th anniversary, and
Alice is awaiting a draft to edit this Sunday….) — and in fact I had just been re-reading
your one-year-out invitation for 2015, Doc, when your three-years-out trumpet call for
2020 came in.
As they say, if you’re one year early for something like this you’re actually two years
late, so thank you Doc for teaching us once again what it means to truly be prepared for
the big moment. Carly Simon would have to admit that nobody does it better than you.
I must continue to dwell in the reunion of 2015 by my own spell (i.e. by my own challenges
as a writer) until I can be released by the help of my own two hands as they move across
the keyboard in what my prayers hope will be flowing chain of letters and spaces. The
gentle breath of many of you has filled my sails and my Word documents, and my project is
still to please; but I must leave the island soon and I hope you can pardon the delayer
once he delivers his manuscript.
After that every third thought will be seeing as many of you as possible and playing with
as many of you as possible in the summer of 2020 and especially lots of folks new to the
reunion experience. It’s so cool to already hear the new voices in these responses. In
the true spirit of Winedale, the circle keeps expanding (hi Shanna, Maria, Adarsh,
Aubrey…!)
Before I go back to the island of the 2015 reunion (I was given a 10-minute pass to the
present day but the ferry is waiting) I’ll toss in a few shells and sand dollars: To my
ear the working-in-town-a-bit-before idea is interesting, as any extra time of playing
together and hearing those words and listening to one another is all to the good; but the
main problem for many of us would continue to be getting a big chunk of time clear and
free, and I think it would be difficult to find a way for a large group to feel like an
ensemble in Austin, living in different places, coming to different spaces, before heading
out to Round Top/ Winedale for time together.
Maybe the reunion could be 8-10 days out in Fayette County instead of 7, all together? I
know the departure of the summer class is an element in the time window. Two weeks would
be impossible for many folks, but maybe even a few extra days could have an impact? How
to do that and still have the celebration on a weekend for out of town visitors and family
is a challenge too.
I would be thrilled at the idea of three groups diving into three plays at once, though
then you have a new challenge of the third space — unless two groups could share Winedale?
With Hazel’s and the pecan shade and the dormitory classrooms there would be room to
spread out and occasionally get out of the AC, though I know there is a new director at
Winedale and I have not met her and don’t know how much that would cost.
There was much discussion two years ago and afterwards about the tradeoff of doing two
plays (the two ensembles can really only cross paths briefly, since there is much to do
and not much time in which to do it) but I think the Wednesday night explosion of play
where each group shared an hour’s worth of work-so-far proved that something remarkable
can happen when you can take a turn being in the audience and then have an opportunity to
be swept up in and inspired by the incredible work of a fellow team of players. That gave
us a boost that nothing else could have given. Winedale at its best is a place where we
learn much from each other, and I think that night was a vibrant living proof of that. So
I’d love to be a part of more of that sharing. The idea of Camp graduates being a part of
it is exciting too. We are all your students Doc, that is really clear when I see the
Camp performances.
And I also feel that doing a play (instead of scenes) gave the week a much deeper and more
intense arc, as tough as it could be on the folks with large roles. The two reunions with
scenes had wonderful moments but felt more scattered to me emotionally. The singing of
“Dream” at the end of Midsummer made Don Brode and I want to bawl when we looked at each
other while waiting to step onstage because of all the blood sweat mud and tears that had
gone into the two hours before it and the wonder of the stories we told as a group in that
time. I think the sense of challenge and achievement is greater too.
Okay the ferry horn is blaring — I’ll holler at you when I set sail with a draft to share
on the 19th.
Love and admiration to you all,
cs
On Aug 8, 2017, at 7:36 PM, James Ayres <jayres(a)cvctx.com
<mailto:jayres@cvctx.com> > wrote:
Only a few of you will remember that famous line spoken by Alice Gordon in 1973 at the end
of The Tempest for which she won the Boatswain Award for good news. Major moment. You
had to be there.
Well, the best news now is that the kids in Camp Shakespeare explored new worlds and met
delightful inhabitants in Navarre (LLL), Sicilia and Bohemia (WT) and celebrated their
discoveries for wonderful audiences. We had another great summer. Thanks to those of you
who contributed to their success through gift and audience. We are growing another
generation of Shakespeareans, many of them sons and daughters of you guys.
We are also approaching the 50th—count ‘em f i f t y— anniversary of Shakespeare at
Winedale in 2020. So I’d like to hear some suggestions about how to celebrate THIS
reunion. A week in the country again? Two plays again? Or one? Yes, it is early, but
this one is big and may be my last, alas. So please give it some thought. I guess that we
would once again need a “reunion committee”? What do you think? I’m eager to get
a’going.
With a hay and a ho and a hey nonny,
Doc
Jim (Doc) Ayres
Professor Emeritus, The University of Texas
Founding Director, Shakespeare at Winedale and Camp Shakespeare
Director of Mission, Camp Shakespeare
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Robert Faires
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