The Shakespeare Theatre Company

Classics in Context

To create a new approach to dialogue and an innovative method of exchange, the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Director of Education, Samantha Wyer invited some of the city’s leading players in many disciplines to respond to the work created onstage at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Classics in Context fulfills the audience’s desire for discussion with a new perspective and approach toward criticism. The panel will consist of four regular contributors and on occasion guest speakers specific to the production. All will be reacting to the work of the company in a roundtable format with our audience.

The 2010/2011 panelists include:

John Aravosis Mitch Menchaca is the director of local arts advancement at Americans for the Arts, the nation's leading organization dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Before coming to Washington DC, he served as the senior director of programs at the Arizona Commission on the Arts and provided oversight for agency grantmaking; program development; and managed grants and services for festivals, museums, art service organizations, and local arts agencies. Mitch studied theater at Central Arizona College, earned a B.L.S. with concentrations in the arts and public administration at Arizona State University, and he completed a festival and event management certificate at the University of Minnesota Tourism Center. He is a 2009 fellow and current faculty coach for the Center for Progressive Leadership, a national political training institute that develops diverse leaders who can effectively advance progressive political and policy change.

Pastor Ruth Hamilton is Co-Pastor with her husband, Brian, of Westminster Presbyterian in SW DC, known by many as “the Jazz Church,” where they have served since 1996. Rev. Hamilton is known for her creative, progressive leadership in the church and SW community. She is chair of the Near SE-SW Community Benefits Coordinating Council and co-chair of the National Capital Presbytery’s Church Transformation Team. She and Brian have two sons, Erik and Roman.

Norman Sandridge is an Assistant Professor of Classics at Howard University. He teaches courses on Greek Literature, Greek Comedy and Tragedy, and Leadership in the Ancient World. He holds a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill and also holds Master’s Degrees in Greek and Latin as well as a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics. In 2009-2010 he was a fellow at Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, DC. His scholarly interests include the emotions and leadership in ancient Greece. His forthcoming book, Loving Humanity, Learning, and Being Honored, is a study of the Xenophon’s Education of Cyrus in terms of the fundamental traits of leadership exhibited by Cyrus the Great, the first king of the Persian Empire..

Rebecca Sheir hosts and produces Metro Connection on WAMU 88.5. She comes to the nation's capital by way of Alaska, where she traveled amongst the moose and mountains as the host of "AK," the award-winning weekly program on the Alaska Public Radio Network. Rebecca's radio stories have won numerous awards – including the Third Coast International Audio Festival Directors' Choice Award – and have aired on a number of venues and programs including All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Marketplace, The Splendid Table, XM Radio, the BBC, Only a Game, Here & Now, Latino USA, Interfaith Voices, Voice of America, Chicago Public Radio, New Hampshire Public Radio and Iowa Public Radio. She has taught her original radio essay/commentary course, "Radio Voices," at the University of Iowa and University of Alaska Anchorage. Rebecca received her BA from Columbia University in New York City, where she also worked in Off-Broadway theater production: first with Stephen Sondheim's Young Playwrights Inc., then with Naked Angels Theatre Company. She holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Iowa.

Dates

All discussions occur at 5:00 p.m. in the Forum in Sidney Harman Hall.

The Heir Apparent – Saturday, October 1, 2011
Much Ado About Nothing – Saturday, December 17, 2011
The Two Gentlemen of Verona – Saturday, February 18, 2012
Strange Interlude – Saturday, April 21, 2012
The Servant of Two Masters – Saturday, June 9, 2012
The Merry Wives of Windsor – Saturday, July 7, 2012