Anchor: Syracuse Shakespeare in the Park is back with their latest production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
N-C-C’s News’s Malachi Washington has more on how one man has kept Shakespeare alive in Central New York.
Malachi Washington: For Dan Stevens, the current Producing Artistic Director of Syracuse Shakespeare in the Park, his connection with the Syracuse Shakespeare scene dates back nearly five decades.
Dan Stevens: Well in Syracuse since 19-76 I’ve worked with a number of local organizations since then throughout the years
Malachi Washington: What keeps him coming back to Shakespeare is his ability to experiment with castings to reframe Shakespearian stories to highlight more modern themes.
Stevens reshaped the Merchant of Venice last year with an all-female cast in a way he says accentuated the play’s racism and antisemitism.
Dan Stevens: Focuses the audience on the racism and antisemitism in the language in a different way by removing the masculinity.
Malachi Washington: The Two Gentlemen of Verona will wrap up the Syracuse Shakespeare in the Park Summer Lease series, and they will return in 20-25 with productions of Othello and Twelfth Night.
Malachi Washington N-C-C News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Syracuse is getting another taste of Shakespeare with the Syracuse Shakespeare in the Park’s production of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.”
For Producing Artistic Director Dan Stevens, producing Shakespeare offers him an opportunity to experiment with different methods of portraying stories that are hundreds of years old.
“I find all of the plays to be very flexible,” Stevens said. “Some of the plays seem like they were written yesterday,” he continued. Syracuse Shakespeare in the Park has been providing Central New York with plays for over 20 years, which has given them plenty of opportunities to test out different casting choices.
Stevens recalled his production of “The Merchant of Venice,” where he utilized an all-female cast to highlight themes of antisemitism and racism within the play.
“The Two Gentlemen of Verona” will be performed in the Thornden Park Ampitheatre on August 9 and 10, before capping off their Summer Lease series with one final show on August 11.
