“Love Letters from Shakespeare: A Night of Music, Dance and Sonnets” will be performed Feb. 14-16 at 7:30 p.m. in the McComas Theatre on the campus of Mississippi State University. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door or online at the department website, comm.msstate.edu.
It has been said that Shakespeare’s sonnets bring us a world of meaning — its joys and sorrows and its passions and torments — set to some of the most beautiful English ever written, said Dr. Donna Clevinger, director of the production and professor in the MSU Department of Communication.
“What would it be like if you staged a sonnet?” is the basis of this production. That concept will be explored in “Love Letters,” thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Educational Program at the American Shakespeare Center. Taking selected and well-known sonnets and dealing with themes of time, beauty and mortality, the presentation frames various topics of love during this “season of the love.”
Original music composed by MSU music majors, dance presented by MSU’s Terpsichore Dance Theatre Company, narration by Dr. Robert Wolverton and Dr. Nancy Hargrove, and singing by Dr. Guy Hargrove, accompanied by Dr. Michael Patilla, tie these powerful rhythms together and guide the audience through the evening.
At the conclusion of each night’s performance, MSU scholars will lead discussions on the various themes of love and the place of the sonnet throughout literature.
“Love Letters” is the beginning of several days of activities under the auspices of the Institute for the Humanities, entitled “Shakespeare: From Page to Stage.” These include February displays at the Starkville Public Library and at MSU’s Colvard Student Center, Starkville Academy art students’ Renaissance exhibit at the Greater Starkville Convention and Visitors Bureau, and workshops led by actors from the American Shakespeare Center for high school students Feb. 21 in Starkville and Columbus, and MSU and EMCC workshops Feb. 22.
A performance of “Twelfth Night” by the American Shakespeare Center is scheduled for the evening of Feb. 22 in Lee Hall. The “Twelfth Night” performance is part of MSU’s Lyceum Series and a Cross College Research Award through the Office of Research and Economic Development. For tickets, go to lyceum.msstate.edu or call the Center for Student Activities at 662-325-2930.
The displays and workshops are free and open to all, space permitting. Contact Clevinger for further information at [email protected] or 662-325-4034.
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