PEP | Performers Exchange Project

Hello friends-

Here is an update on the current projects of PEP. We are not working on a group project at the moment, but we still have some irons in the fire.

Our very own Doreen has wrapped up all her hard work on her MFA in Shakespeare and Performance at Mary Baldwin College, which culminated in her first foray into film. Her thesis project was a silent black and white film based on Shakespeare’s A Winters Tale. Kara and Siân got the chance to participate in the roles of Hermione and Paulina. As a result of all her efforts, Doreen has been hired to create a brand new position at Mary Baldwin College, as the Company Manager/Director of Training for the Master of Letters in Shakespeare/Performance program. We are so thrilled and can’t wait to see the work she will make with the masters students there.

In June, Siân, Martha and Kara began work on The Madwoman Project, directed by Kay Ferguson. You might remember Kay as our guest performer for the initial run of Our American Ann Sisters at Live Arts in Charlottesville. Now she is producing and directing this new project and will be working with her cast of six through the summer to build a show that opens in September in Downtown Charlottesville. Martha is working with the actors on physical and vocal training, work that is based on the training she and Siân originally learned and worked with as company members of Theatre Du Jour in Washington D.C. As I write this, the cast (including Sian and Kara) and designers are hard at work. It is a huge luxury to get to spend time four nights a week training!

Jennifer has been working as Executive Director of CLAW USA for the last year.  CLAW, the philanthropic, theatrical ladies arm wrestling league that started here in Charlottesville (Founded by Jennifer and our friend Jodie Plaisance) in 2008, has sprouted leagues all over the country, which, collectively, have raised over $200,000 for donation to women’s organizations and projects. Just this month, the first annual SUPER CLAW, a smack down between all CLAW USA’s member leagues, took place in Charlotttesville and raised over $12,300 to be split among the eight wrestlers’ chosen causes.

Last November, Martha received a grant from the Winston-Salem, NC area Arts Council to publish her 60-minute version of Romeo and Juliet.  The book, titled The Shakespeare Guru’s Guide to Getting Shakespeare Alive offers tips aimed at teachers and directors for bringing Shakespeare’s plays in general and Romeo and Juliet in particular to life in a classroom or on stage.  It is now available online through Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

Clearly, the PEPsters have a lot brewing.  We will do our best to keep you up to date on all  the details…