Six seniors in the Department of Drama in Syracuse University's College of Visual and
Performing Arts (VPA) will have the opportunity to showcase their acting skills in China
when they travel to Beijing on Saturday, Sept. 20, to spend a month rehearsing and
performing a production of William Shakespeare's "King Lear" at Peking University's
(PKU) Institute of World Theatre and Film.
The students-accompanied by Craig MacDonald, associate professor of drama-will work
with Joseph Graves, artistic director at the institute, who will direct the production. The
students will perform "King Lear" with PKU students as well as professional actors from
China, England and the United States during the first National Chinese Shakespeare
Festival in Beijing, which will be held in October.
Graves recently spent a week in Syracuse rehearsing with the SU students, who were
auditioned and cast by MacDonald and fellow drama faculty members Malcolm Ingram
and Elizabeth Ingram. The students cast include drama majors Allison Calhoun, Chris
Dall'au, Graham Douglass, Stella Heath and David Snyder, along with Kaitlin Dale, a
musical theater major.
"I am extremely excited to have the students from SU joining the PKU acting students as a
part of the first National Chinese Shakespeare Festival," says Graves. "The dual mix of
American and Chinese theater students and a contingent of professional actors for our
production of 'King Lear' is a first-of-its-kind adventure, and after spending a week in
Syracuse working with the students and Craig MacDonald, I could not be happier with their
commitment and dedication to the project. I feel confident this production will prove the
very best kind of artistic, cultural and educational exchange and interchange."
The opportunity to work with Graves and PKU stemmed from Graves' friendship with
Timothy Bond, producing artistic director of the Department of Drama and Syracuse Stage.
Bond served as a visiting artist at PKU while in his previous position as associate artistic
director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. To learn more about the institute, visit
http://beijingrep.com.
VPA is the creative center of Syracuse University. The college comprises five areas: the
School of Art and Design; the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies; the
Department of Drama; the Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music; and the
Department of Transmedia. Together, students, faculty and staff play a vital role in the
academic and cultural life of the University and Syracuse communities. Learn more about
the college at http://vpa.syr.edu.
