‘Shakespeare in the Park’ featured in Henderson

Kimberley McGee

Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2000 | 9:25 a.m.

What: "Nevada Shakespeare in the Park."

When: Friday, Saturday at 7 p.m.; Sunday, 6 p.m.

Where: Foxridge Park in Henderson.

Cost: Free.

Information: 566-2681.

There are many ways to escape the rigors of daily life in Las Vegas, where reality can blur into fantasy along the whimsical facade of the Strip with dueling pirates, waterfalls and Aladdin's magic lamp.

But this weekend there is an escape of another sort to soothe worried minds and draw harried homeowners out of stuccoed shells to mingle with the community -- the art community.

The 14th annual "Nevada Shakespeare in the Park" festival takes place Friday through Sunday at Foxridge Park in Henderson. This is the largest annual cultural performance in Henderson, with nearly 25,000 people packing picnics expecting to partake of the Bard.

This year the event centers around a Los Angeles production of "Anthony and Cleopatra" by director George Lamb.

But the festival not just about the single play.

"Shakespeare in the Park" is about bringing the Bard and his classic tales to life. Actors with the Nevada Theater Company have plotted and prepared skits, songs and tricks to create an atmosphere true to the 17th century for Las Vegans to experience.

Traditionally titled the "Green Show," an hour before each early evening performance, mimes, madrigal singers, jugglers and actors in full Elizabethan-era regalia wander through the crowd and bring Shakespeare into the laps of locals.

The term "Green Show" probably stems from the preshow market and the wandering, hungry, actors who may have sang for their supper, according to Deanna Duplechain, director of the three-year-old Nevada Theater Company.

"It's very Elizabethan," she said. "We wander through and entertain people and bring Shakespeare out to them."

The NTC, with the aid of Basic and Green Valley high school students for a few "Green Show" skits, will focus on "Romeo and Juliet" as its background for the mostly improvisational performances.

"It's a play most people are familiar with so we don't exclude anyone," Duplechain said. "We want everyone to feel involved."

The iambic pentameter style in which Shakespeare penned his classics may be difficult and intimidating for some to enjoy, but the theater troupe plans to keep it light, loose and fun.

After nearly 400 years, give or take a decade, the Bard still plays to modern audiences.

"There seems to be a universal appeal to Shakespeare," Duplechain said. "He must be saying something about the human spirit that people still want to hear."

A day of Shakespeare, picnics and actors in Elizabethan costumes can be a way to slow down in the modern mayhem of modems, e-mail and electronic doodads, said Markus Kublin, a local actor.

"We want it to be an experience where people feel involved and by acting in the audience we are contributing to the overall feel of a shared experience," Kublin said. "It's interactive and people can just let go of everything else for a couple of hours."

This is Kublin's first time performing in "Shakespeare in the Park," but it shouldn't be too much of a stretch for the 29-year-old -- by day he plays King Arthur in the "Tournament of Kings" show at the Excalibur.

The "Green Show" allows Kublin to stray from the strict framework of a scripted play and use his improv skills. To prepare, Kublin has rehearsed the language and worked out minor choreography for duels with fellow NTC actors.

What's important to Kublin is to leave a lasting impression on the audience.

"It's not an easy thing to do because I'm trying to get ideas across with a language people aren't familiar with," Kublin said.

The troupe tries to open the audience to the idea that Shakespeare is not something that has to be stuffy and boring, he said.

"It can be educational but that doesn't mean that it isn't interesting," Kublin said. "We are going to pull them into it."

Bill Cunningham performs in "Mystere" but works with community theater simply for the pleasure of acting. Working in a large show doesn't allow for interaction with the audience, while the "Green Show" is hands-on for the actors and the audience.

It's in-your-face theater, Cunningham said. Through the costumes, props and actors' actions and tones, the unfamiliar language becomes easier to digest as the audience understands what the actors are trying to portray.

"People get intimidated by Shakespeare, so we are giving a human face to the words," Cunningham said."A lot of people get Shakespeare more than they think."

Cunningham's target audience is children because, more so than television or computer games, theater opens their minds as well as their artistic possibilities.

"You just see the kids eyes light up when you perform for them and that makes you feel like you've accomplished something," Cunningham said. "We bring happiness, joy and entertainment to them."

Adrienne Mondeau said she feels the same thrill when she gets through to someone through her art.

Mondeau recently returned from a music tour in Europe with the Myron Heaton Chorale in which she is a classical singer of religious and Vatican songs.

Although she can sing complicated notes and traditional religious music, the thought of performing Shakespeare intimidated the actress who is a co-chairwoman of the local Screen Actor's Guild.

"I've always been afraid to do it because you think of Shakespeare as the ultimate in acting," Mondeau said.

The "Green Show" allows her to perform a masterpiece in a relaxed atmosphere so she can enjoy the acting and the audience.

"We plan to do it in such a way that people will understand it and laugh at it a little," Mondeau said.

Mondeau has practiced songs and skits and looks forward to the beautiful costumes she will don to make the transition to the Elizabethan age.

"It's going to be exciting, different," said Mondeau, who in her day-to-day life teaches voice and music lessons. "We are going to really ham it up and have a good time. I think it's easier to digest (Shakespeare) by making light of it."

Although the words may be old, the stories still ring true, she said.

"You see how history repeats itself through Shakespeare," Mondeau said. "There is magic in the masterpiece because it's about human beings and life. It's about us, really."