New Swan Shakespeare Center and UCI's Ye Olde Theatre Eaters welcome you to "Classical Drama, Reimagined," a public series of unexpected perspectives, open to all. Over the course of four sessions, our group will revisit and reinterpret such theatrical classics as Shakespeare’s Henriad, Romeo and Juliet, dramatizations of Greek myths, and Margaret Cavendish's The Convent of Pleasure. Co-led by Center guest scholar Neah Lekan and UCI students, our studies and conversations will guide you through new and unexpected perspectives on beloved, familiar stories.
LOCATION: Humanities Instructional Building 135DATES/TIMES: 5:30 - 8:30pm on the following Mondays
January 13 | Three Gentlemen of Verona? — Reinventing R&J
February 10 | Duchess Margaret’s Queer Convent
March 10 | Femmes & Fates: Staging Eurydice Then and Now
April 14 | There’s Something About the Henriad
Free and open to all. Light refreshments will be available.
Please note that parking is not included.
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January 13, 2025: Three Gentlemen of Verona? — Reinventing R&J
Three Gentlemen of Verona: The Queer Story of Benvolio, Tybalt, and Mercutio is an original Romeo and Juliet adaptation written by Harrison Tate-Pascua and Colin Rinard. Three Gents explores the events of Romeo and Juliet from the perspectives of Benvolio, Tybalt, and Mercutio in a queer context, culminating in a striking reinterpretation of the original play’s events. Join the New Swan Shakespeare Center and Ye Olde Theater Eaters for a community focused workshop of this new, UCI incubated work.
February 10, 2025: Duchess Margaret’s Queer Convent
Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was one of the enigmatical figures of the English Restoration. Among her many published writings were two volumes of plays, which went unproduced during her lifetime but have recently received increasing attention. Most popular among these by far is The Convent of Pleasure, which dramatizes an aristocratic heiress’s quest to avoid marriage by founding a convent reserved only for women. In this workshop, we’ll explore the queer and trans resonances of Cavendish’s play and its striking parallels with contemporary political discourses on trans rights.
March 10, 2025: Femmes & Fates: Staging Eurydice Then and Now
The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of Greek mythology’s most enduring, particularly on the modern stage. Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice reimagines the myth from Eurydice's perspective, focusing on her journey in the underworld. In this workshop, we’ll dive into both the classical myth and Ruhl’s retelling, using Ruhl’s work as a model for a broader discussion about contemporary adaptations of Greco-Roman myth from Hercules to Hadestown.
April 14, 25: There’s Something About the Henriad
Shakespeare’s Second Tetralogy, often called the Henriad, are the most widely produced and adapted English history plays throughout the world. In this workshop, we’re going to ask a simple question — why? What is it about these medieval stories of kingship that still resonates, and why have marginalized artists found so much of their own experiences in this story of a prince? Alongside Shakespeare’s originals, we’ll consider two influential adaptations, My Own Private Idaho and El Henry in our search for answers to those questions.
New Swan Shakespeare Center