Category Archives: Staged Reading

IF presents Shakespeare’s *Antony and Cleopatra*, April 24

On Monday, April 24th at 7:30pm at the Tuscaloosa Cultural Arts Center, Improbable Fictions will present Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Pre-show music begins at 7:10pm. As always, IF events are free and open to the public. The Facebook Event (The IF event will not star Sara Bernhardt as Cleopatra. Apologies.)

IF presents Calderon’s *Life is a Dream*

On Thursday, March 30th at 7:30pm in 205 Gorgas Library, Improbable Fictions will present a staged reading of Pedro Calderon de la Barca’s Life is a Dream, an early modern Spanish drama. The reading is directed by Deborah Parker and will involve actors from UA and from the Tuscaloosa community. Free and open to the public.

Restoring Summer, March 9th

Next Thursday, March 9th from 7:00 to 9:30pm, IF presents a cold reading workshop of Diamond Forde’s Restoring Summer, a play-in-progress with resonances from Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. We’ll meet in 205 Gorgas Library on UA’s campus, pass out scripts, and read through Diamond’s most recent draft. If you’re interested in reading or just in listening, drop by!Continue reading “Restoring Summer, March 9th”

Improbable Fictions, Spring 2017

I’m pleased to announce the spring 2017 lineup for Improbable Fictions! We’re organizing a wide variety of events this semester, including workshops on Shakespearean appropriations and two separate staged readings, one of Shakespeare and one of the early modern Spanish playwright Pedro Calderon. For the first four events, we ask that you RSVP to nrhelms@ua.eduContinue reading “Improbable Fictions, Spring 2017”

Bechdellian Shakespeare

This Thursday! Readers Steve Burch Mark Hughes Cobb Alanna Fagan Erin Hildebrand Mark Hulse Annie Levy Bert McLelland Courtney Parker Deborah Parker Mary B. Prondzinski Will Ramsay Sarah Scarr Exa Skinner Matt Smith Elizabeth Thiel Directors Steve Burch Mark Hughes Cobb MK Foster Nic Helms Courtney Parker Deborah Parker Respondents Prof. Michelle Dowd, Hudson StrodeContinue reading “Bechdellian Shakespeare”

Why People Don’t Perform The Mandrake

(crosspost from irrecollections.com)   Aside from poor acting, poor design, and poor direction (most versions commit one, two, or all of these sins), most productions appear to misunderstand–and therefore misrepresent–the text. Though a lot of misconception stems from a misrepresentation of Machiavelli himself (preferring the mustache-twirling villain over the historian, linguist,  and political writer), a lot ofContinue reading “Why People Don’t Perform The Mandrake”

IF in March

We’ve got two staged readings this month: Machiavelli’s Mandrake on March 10th, directed by Jacob Crawford, and Aristophanes’ Women at the Assembly on March 25th, directed by Prof. Steve Burch of UA’s Dept. of Theatre and Dance and held in conjunction with the Dept. of Modern Languages & Classics conference “Women, Democracy, and the Ideology of Exclusion.” Both shows will takeContinue reading “IF in March”

IF Spring 2016

Just a brief note about everything IF will be doing this spring: There will be a production of Aristophanes’ The Assembly Women, directed by Steve Burch, on March 25th at the Tuscaloosa Cultural Arts Center. The production will be part of “Women, Democracy, and the Ideology of Exclusion from Antiquity Through the Early 20th Century”, an international conferenceContinue reading “IF Spring 2016”