Lunchtime with Aaron Posner

In eleven years of association with the Folger Theatre, Aaron Posner has become a docent favorite, thanks to productions such as Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, and last year’s Macbeth, and thanks also to his engaging, frank and articulate discussions with us. He did not disappoint on January 19, when he took an hour off from rehearsals of Orestes: A Tragic Romp, an adaptation of Euripedes’ play by contemporary playwright Anne Washburn, which will run January 27 to March 7.

“It’s really exciting to direct a play by Euripedes with the author in the room,” he began, to general laughter, noting that Washburn has been an active participant in the rehearsal process. Orestes was a play she studied in college, and she always wanted to see it performed. As with most Greek drama, the existing translations are either academic and literal or highly poetic. Contemporary working playwrights, when adapting Greek drama, usually use the original story as a springboard to their own concerns. In this case, though, Washburn’s adaptation is quite close to the original. “Anne has brushed the dust off the play and updated the language,” said Aaron, “but the humor, the moral ambiguity, and the energy of the play are Euripedes’ own.”
A big challenge of Greek tragedy, for Aaron, is how to tell the story without “overwrought weeping and wailing.” He liked Washburn’s adaptation immediately, because her dry caustic tone puts the action at something of an ironic remove, without being too clever. “We talk a lot in rehearsal about the line between clever and good,” said Aaron. “Good to me means provoking a conversation about the play’s ideas and conflicts. ‘Who am I? How did I get here from there?’ are fascinating questions, whether you’re in therapy or watching Greek drama, and I want the ideas out front.”

Aaron is setting the action in an imagined, created world that represents no particular time period, though the audience may detect Greek overtones in the costumes and set. (The floor of the stage is covered in stones, an idea Aaron had one day while sitting on the gravel of the Folger’s Elizabethan Garden.) The music, written for the show by frequent collaborator James Sugg, is influenced by everything from pop to gospel to classical, but does not refer directly to any genre. It will be sung by a five-member, female “chorus.” The production will also feature ironic, cross-dressing doubling in the cast—for example, Holly Twyford plays both Electra and Electra’s grandfather. In a nod to the Greek practice of using masks, most of the minor doubled characters wear glasses.

“This is as hard as anything I’ve ever done,” Aaron confessed. “How to integrate the over-the-top tragedy, the music and movement and rhythm in ways that aren’t just ridiculous to a modern audience is a constant challenge. It feels like we’re on a perilous, narrow mountain path we can fall off at any time.”

Please Do Not Touch the Statues!

--- MESSAGE:
From: Erin Blake

Thanks Caitlin and Georgianna,

The guard was correct: no one should touch the sculptures, but I think making a one-time exception to the no-touching rule for the blind woman was appropriate, and I'm sure Helen was careful to direct the visitor away from the most fragile areas of the sculptures, where the marble is sugaring.

I do want to make sure a misconception from long-ago docent training is corrected: the bas reliefs were put low so they could be *seen* not touched. The marble used for the sculptures is extremely fragile, even though it's stone. When traces of oils and acids from people's hands are deposited on the stone, they attract microbial growth and speed up the chemical reactions that are eating away at the marble. The marble of the building itself isn't so vulnerable because it was cut and polished by machine. The marble of the bas reliefs, on the other hand, is sugaring very badly in places, and is part of an ongoing conservation project.

Thanks,

EB.

----- ORIGINAL MESSAGE
From: Helen Urquhart

Dear Caitlin,

On Friday I did the 3PM tour. The group included a blind woman. I took the tour outside and proceeded past the bas reliefs. I casually asked the woman if she would like to touch them, i.e. see them the only way she could, with her hands. She did do that and was very pleased about it.
Yes, one guard did object but relented when he saw the situation.
When I went through training, I was told that the reliefs were put there so that blind visitors and children could see them.

Helen U.

Diane Shages says "if ye ask, ye shall be answered"

During a recent school visit, I was asked by one of the visiting teachers whether or not Shakespeare was involved in the writing of the King James version of the Bible. Thank you to all docents who responded. I had similar information from several of you, but I think most of what you all told me is included in the following from Georgianna, Gerry and Bill.

From Georgianna Ziegler: Yes, these are apocryphal stories that have made the rounds about Shakespeare. (We’ve had people ask before.) The King James Bible was translated by a committee of scholars from Oxford and Cambridge, many of them linguists, and was obviously influenced by earlier translations such as that of Tyndale. See for example, David Daniell, The Bible in English (Yale UP, 2003).

Shakespeare's own vocabulary was much larger than that used in the Bible. According to Norrie Epstein's The Friendly Shakespeare, "It's estimated that Shakespeare used between 25,000 and 29,000 different words in his plays and poems. Consider that the King James Bible is made up of only six thousand different words." And, "One out of every dozen or so words was a new one that Shakespeare would never repeat in any play or poem" (p.224). Michael Macrone in his book Brush Up Your Shakespeare gives 9+ pages, double-columned, of words for which Shakespeare is listed as the first usage (pp.193 ff).

The reference to the cryptogram in the 46th Psalm is explained in Norrie Epstein's book, The Friendly Shakespeare, pp.298, 100.

From Gerry Connolly: Many believe he did only due to the fact that the writing in the King James Bible mirrors the musical writing of Shakespeare, but William Shakespeare is not credited as one of the 40-plus translators and writers. However, it is widely believed he did in fact assist a bit on the translation and writing, but his contribution would have been so minor he was left uncredited.

An interesting side-note is the fact that Shakespeare was 46 years old when the King James Bible was being translated and written, and the 46th word in Psalm 46 is "shake", and the 46th word from the end is "spear". This may be another reason so many believe he was involved in the translation and writing, especially on Psalm 46. If you want to count words then take a look at Psalm 46...

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Most scholars dismiss claims of Shakespeare's involvement in translating the King James Version, and do not accept this example as evidence of his involvement. Notably, the Geneva Bible and several other earlier translations contained the same coincidence, despite several of them being published before or just shortly after Shakespeare's birth.[2]

Two of the most important influences on the English language were the King James Version of the Bible and the plays of William Shakespeare. These works helped standardize the language and make it what it is today. Given their importance to our language, it is not surprising that they also had an influence on each other. One would think that perhaps the King James Version of the Bible influenced Shakespeare, but this is not so. If Shakespeare wrote any plays after the KJV Bible was published in 1611, they were few and relatively unimportant. Further, it is unlikely that he wrote anything after 1613.

And from Bill Stewart: I refer you to "God's Secretaries" by Adam Nicolson--a recent and quite definitive book about the making of the King James Bible. There is no mention of Shakespeare having been part of this process.

We who volunteer, also volunteer

We all know what an asset Michael Neuman is to our docent corps here at the Folger, but did you know Mike has another calling: volunteer par excellence with Capitol Hill Village (CHV).

CHV is a non-profit organization established two years ago to help residents of the Hill stay in their homes as they grow older: offering transportation services, minor home repairs, medical advocacy, meal preparation, shopping services, etc.

At CHV’s October 3 anniversary celebration, Mike was honored as "Volunteer of the Year" for his "indefatigable and kindly assistance to (CHV) members in driving them to appointments and events" and for his grant-writing services. Mike’s efforts resulted in "a major grant to enhance the Village website and a city appropriation to help underwrite the low-income ‘Membership Plus’ program."

Congratulations from all of us, Michael. We are so fortunate you are one of us!!!

From the Chair — Julian Ullman

Dear Docents All:

In some ways this has been a quieter 2 months into the new year as we have been able to benefit from the enthusiasm and intellectual stimulus of the 08-09 docent class without worrying about new faces on the block! Not to demean the long-term establishment that has done such splendid work over the years. You know who you are. We all thank you and know you are always there with support, history and enthusiasm even if you have opted to take a lesser role.

Desk duties seem to have grown and grown. Many more tours both scheduled and last minute. SSO visits, led by Teaching Actors, and the Secondary School programs are flourishing. Dee Starnes has been wonderfully enthusiastic and helpful with all the school events.
I mustn’t omit a pat on the back to E.J. Truax for planning, cajoling and organizing the Hoitsma Lecture. Barbara Mowat was an inspiring, interesting and informative speaker. Caitlin has become an ever greater tower of strength. She keeps us all on our toes and is now hurling us into the Folger digital world. Personally, I owe her (a debt of gratitude) for her patience and understanding—actually, that applies to my Board too!

And then there is Bob, who runs us all with quiet efficiency and understanding. I, most of all, thank you Bob.

Next film for Docents: Another serving of Macbeth, restrateur

We saw ``Scotland, Pa., in which Macbeth was a frustrated fast food fry cook. Next up, the BBC's Shakespeare Retold retelling in which our protagonist is the head chef in a swanky (just got its third Michelin star!) Soho restaurant, The Nose to Tail, specializing in entrails and organs. Lady M., in black leather, is the maitre d', Macduff is the head waiter and Duncan is the jovial restaurant owner who takes credit for the fuming Macbeth's ``signature creations'' -- for example ``Pork Assortments.'' James McAvoy is the protagonist, Keeley Hawkes the wife and Richard Armitage the crafty head waiter. The witches are wised up garbage men. Said to be gruesome humor familiar to those who admire ``Scottish cop movies.'' (??) Written by Peter Moffat, who did ``Cambridge Spies'' and ``Hawking'' dramas.

Running time is 90 minutes. Part of the same BBC series that gave us the dueling TV anchors version of ``Much Ado About Nothing.''

Come and see it Monday February 8, 1 p.m., board room. (Right, this is not the consecrated first Monday of the month, traditional docent movie time, but the room was already booked for 2/1.)

Also, let's forget about having a March movie. Early March is all about the Secondary School Festival.

Every good wish, Joe Adcock

The amazing Joe Adcock’s Amazing Encounter by Joe Adcock

One afternoon in June, I was the 1 p.m. tour guide. A woman of about 45 and a teenage boy, maybe 14, came into the theater lobby and gazed around a bit. I asked them if they'd like a tour. What? A tour, a guided tour, I'd be glad to tell you about this place. This place? Yes, the Folger Shakespeare Library. Ah—this place. Thank you, but not very much English, would not understand.

The two visitors looked as if they were from Asia, maybe China or possibly the Philippines. On the off chance that they were Filipinos, who sometimes know Spanish, I asked ¿Hablan español? Oh, sí, cómo no. And we were off. It turned out that they were from the city of Puebla, south and east of Mexico City. As coincidence would have it, my wife and I were planning to spend a couple of weeks in Puebla in August. It is high and dry and cool; not at all like the DC area in August. And it's one of those UNESCO human heritage sites, owing to its wealth of colonial and 19th Century architecture right in town and the plentiful pre-Colombian archaeological treasures all around in outlying areas.

Anyway, I gave the standard tour—In Spanish. I had learned some in college and then spent time in Perú, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Guatemala on various academic, professional and humanitarian volunteer ventures. The tour-in-translation was usually pretty simple, but there were a few oddities, like figuring out the right word for Elizabethan. Isabelina would do the job, in a literal sense, but Isabelina in Spanish refers to Isabel la Católica, the 15th Century queen who, among other things, financed Columbus' original voyage. So Elizabeth Tudor was Isabela la NO católica, the 16th Century English queen who helped finance some of Shakespeare's explorations.

As I was winding things up I asked my two visitors their names. Isabel Chong and Arturo Barceló Jr., mother and son. That's the way Spanish names work, she keeps her father's name, he uses HIS father's name Chong. Chinese ancestors? Father an immigrant from China. One of those amazing stories, started as a farm worker and ended up head of systems services for some international hi-tech hardware outfit's Mexico franchise. He had married a woman from Oaxaca.
I told Isabel that my wife and I planned to be in Puebla in a few weeks. She absolutely insisted on giving me her telephone numbers, her e-mail address and her home address. And where did we live? Arlington. ¡ARLINGTON! Her brother, who works for the Inter-American Development bank lives in Arlington. They are visiting him. That's how they happened to be in DC. And they saw the Folger in a guide book. And the rest is history.

In mid-August, my wife and I were in Puebla. I called Isabel. She invited us out to her house for dinner— excellent lasagna. We met Arturo Sr., her husband, and her college biology student daughter Carla. And we agreed to visit the school where Isabel teaches, an English immersion school—half the day in English, half the day in Spanish, just like the Claremont Elementary School my granddaughter and grandson go to in Arlington. At Isabel's school we gave little talks in English about how we had learned Spanish, and how that was much easier to learn than English, and I told a little joke devised by George Bernard Shaw whereby g-h-o-t-i spells fish (gh as in laugh, o as in women, ti as in motion.) They fourth graders looked perplexed. I went on to say that one of the last things one masters in a foreign language is humor -- and they looked a little relieved. Anyway, the point is that Spanish is strictly phonetic and English only half-heartedly pretends to be.

Later the Chong/Barcelós took me to a nearby colonial city, Tlaxcala, where we ate in a former convent refectory. My wife Cynthia was exhausted by the previous day's climb up The Great Pyramid of Cholula atop which is a colonial church, so she didn't make it to Tlaxcala.
Isabel and I have exchanged e-mails since I've been back, and she wants to make sure that I meet her brother when he gets back from somewhere—Italy?

Lesson: If a visitor seems puzzled and lost and pleads Not enough English, try ¿Habla español? or Parlez-vous francais? or whatever works for you. It could lead to an entirely fulfilling and unexpected adventure.

More Shakespeare and Good Food in Staunton

January 2010 Contents: 100 Very Best Restaurants - Cover Archive ...
... Reader Deals The Virginia town of Staunton has some big draws—including good foodand terrific theater. Thanks to these exclusive offers, it’s also a deal. ... www.washingtonian.com/articles/coverarchive/14463.html - 101k - Cached

Hope I did this correctly!

Report on the Docents’ Orientation to the Digital First Folio by Mike Neuman

First-time visitors to the Folger are sometimes disappointed to learn that they are not permitted to browse through the Library’s rare resources. Some consolation, though, is available at the kiosk in the Exhibition Hall with its fine example of a First Folio and its digital surrogate that permits browsing and provides many helpful notes. On October 27th, a group of nine docents who offer detailed coverage of the First Folio on their tours gave sample presentations to approximately two dozen of their colleagues who had gathered to learn from and respond to their fellows. Altogether, then, more than half of the docent community was on hand for the event.

The series of five-minute presentations began with an orientation by Jim Kuhn, Folger’s Head of Collection Information Services, on the interface to and features of the digital First Folio. He was followed by the following presentations that, in general, progressed from details on individual pages of the First Folio to broader issues of background:

 Ben Jonson’s tribute to Shakespeare (Larry Plotkin)
 "BI" as Ben Jonson (EJ Truax)
 The Droeshout engraving (Dottie Boerner)
 Lack of a prologue in R&J and problems in editing Shakespeare (Amy Thompson)
 Table of contents: 35 titles for 36 plays (Elaine Miller)
 Featured actors of the King’s Men (Gina Guglielmo)
 The first page of R&J and limited space at the start of a quire (Mike Neuman)
 The law of printing and presenting plays in Shakespeare’s time (Martha Patterson)
 Why do we have so many First Folios? (Sarah Rosenbaum)

Charlton Hinman, Peter Blayney, and Paul Collins—authors of influential works on the First Folio--were often cited, and two question-and-answer sessions were held along the way.
Outside on this late October day, the weather was dreary, but gathered around the light of the First Folio, the docents by all reports had a cozy and stimulating time.