Dates: July 1 - July 8, 2013

The Plays

 The Taming of the Shrew

by William Shakespeare

A Tale of Two Sisters
Sweet-tempered daddy’s girl Bianca can have her pick of suitors—but not until her sister, the acid-tongued Kate, can be married off. Rising to the challenge is rockabilly musician Petruchio, but can he match Kate jab for jab? A hilarious, delirious tangle of masquerades and misdirection plays out against a backdrop of beach boardwalks and rock ’n’ roll. And in the end, the surprising love story dares to ask what roles we play . . . and, underneath, who we really are.

 Two Trains Running

by August Wilson

At the Crossroads of a Revolution
It’s 1969, and change is in the air. But for the owner of a threadbare diner in a dying Pittsburgh neighborhood, the civil rights movement may just be an impractical dream. Torn between whether to gamble on an urban-renewal buyout or sell his building to a predatory businessman, he finds himself caught between idealism and brutal reality. August Wilson’s searing portrait of African-American life in the ’60s tells a complex story of the inner lives of ordinary people at an explosive turning point in American history.

 King Lear

by William Shakespeare

Ambition is Thicker than Blood
King Lear is ready to turn his realm over to his three daughters. His plan is simple: Give the biggest piece to the daughter who loves him most. But honeyed words and hubris blind Lear to the true motives of those around him, plunging king and kingdom into a hell of treachery, madness and unspeakable acts—with consequences that reveal the worst and best in human nature.

 The Liquid Plain

by Naomi Wallace

Plunging Beneth the Surface
On the docks of late 18th-century Rhode Island, two runaway slaves find love and a near-drowned man. With a motley band of sailors, they plan a desperate and daring run to freedom. As the mysteries of their identities come to light, painful truths about the past and present collide and flow into the next generation. Acclaimed playwright Naomi Wallace’s newest work brings to life a group of people whose stories have been lost in history.

 Cymbeline

by William Shakespeare

An Action-Adventure Fairy Tale
Princess Imogen’s stepmother wants to kill her. Her father, King Cymbeline, is no help. Meanwhile, Imogen’s banished love, Posthumus, thinks she’s cheating on him. What’s a wronged royal to do? Swap the skirts for pants and run away disguised as a boy into the magical wilds of Shakespeare’s ancient Britain, that’s what. In true fairy-tale style, the improbable becomes probable in an epic, adventurous romance filled with kind strangers, dastardly villains, ghosts, gods and lost princes. The high road to happily-ever-after awaits.

 A Streetcar Named Desire

by Tennessee Williams

Steamy Showdown
Southern aristocrat Blanche, down on her luck, is reduced to living with her sister Stella and Stella’s pugnacious blue-collar husband, Stanley. Life with them in their tiny tenement apartment is unnbearable until a kindly suitor appears and seems to offer Blanche a ticket to a better life. But Stanley, bristling at Blanche’s highhanded dismissal of him, sets out to dismantle her genteel façade, hurtling them toward an epic battle in Williams’ Pulitzer Prize–winning classic.

 The Heart of Robin Hood

by David Farr

Can a Hood become a Hero?
All is not well in Nottingham. A cruel prince is terrorizing the countryside, the poor are up to their quivers in taxes, and Robin Hood has learned to steal from the rich—but hasn’t figured out the other part. To the rescue comes a sword-wielding, sharpwitted Maid Marion, who sets out to show Robin and his scary men that there can be honor among thieves. David Farr’s funny, fast-paced swashbuckler will surprise you with a new spin on a story you think you know.

 My Fair Lady

by Lerner and Loewe

The Perfect Musical
Professor Henry Higgins loves language. Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle yearns to speak like a lady. Sparks fly when his curiosity and her passionate determination launch a daring social experiment designed to turn a lower-class ugly duckling into a high-society swan—with unexpected results for both of them. Lerner and Loewe’s effervescent adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion is one of the most exquisite musicals ever written. This intimate, two-piano version, approved by composer Frederick Loewe, promises to illuminate the story in ways you haven’t heard before.

'From Page to Performance'

will be conducted in the beautiful Renaissance setting of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. This year we will be attending seven outstanding plays: Romeo and Juliet, Medea/Macbeth/Cinderella, As You Like It, Henry V, The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa, All the Way, and Troilus and Cressida.

English 35
Major Dramatist
In this course we will view and discuss the four plays by Shakespeare.
1 unit transfer credit

English 135
From Page to Performance is a course in which we view the relationship of the printed text to the stage performance of a variety of plays seen in Ashland.
1 unit non-transfer credit (Credit/no credit grading)

Enrollment, Fees, and Registration

Includes:

• accommodations for seven nights
• tickets for eight plays
• backstage tour
• discussions with actors
• lectures by theater company members
• insurance
• Does not include class enrollment fee, meals, transportation, and parking.

*Students must enroll in ONE of the following:  English 35 (1 unit transfer credit/letter grade)  or English 135 (1 unit non-transfer credit).  (see course descriptions under the "From Page to Performance" heading at the bottom of the first column)

REGISTER EARLY!

Mandatory orientation meeting is Friday, May 17, 11am - 1pm in C245

PAYMENT AND ENROLLMENT DEADLINE IS MAY 15, 2013. NO REFUNDS AFTER JUNE1. PARTIAL SCHOLARSHIPS MAY BE AVAILABLE.

Make Check or Money Order payable to Pasadena City College. 

Mail payments and or registration form to Krista Walter, English Division, Pasadena City College, 1570 East Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91106-2003

*Returning students who have taken English 35 or English 135 more than twice, must pay an additional fee of $50 to thw Extended Learning Center.  Write a separate check for $50 payable to Pasadena City College; note on memo line: Extended Learning Center.

Brochures and enrollment forms are available in the English Division C245 or by downloading the files below.

Theater in Ashland brochure

Registration form

Faculty Biographies

Krista Walter has been teaching literature for 21 years. A child actress, she continues to enjoy the theatre, old and new. She will facilitate lively discussion for students as we amble along the quaint streets of Ashland in search of dramaturgical adventure. This is her 3rd trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Steven Pell teaches English, Linguistics, and English as a Second Language. He is a professional actor/director and member of Actor's Equity Association and the Screen Actor's Guild/AFTRA unions. He has worked in voice overs, TV, film, and stage. He also taught acting at the Lee Strasberg Academy in Hollywood and at other studios in the Los Angeles area. Steve looks forward to his first trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

For further information:
please contact:
Krista Walter , (626) 585-7118, klwalter@pasadena.edu

Steven Pell , (626) 585-3270, sapell@pasadena.edu

Click the logo below for more information about the festival