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 K. 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.

Join us in the 2012-2013 Season:

The Government Inspector –October 6, 2012 in the Lansburgh Theatre Lobby
A Midsummer Night's Dream –December 8, 2012 in The Forum in Sidney Harman Hall
Hughie –March 2, 2013 in the Lansburgh Theatre Lobby
Wallenstein –May 5, 2013 in The Forum in Sidney Harman Hall
Coriolanus –May 25, 2013 in The Forum in Sidney Harman Hall
The Winter's Tale – June 8, 2013 in the Lansburgh Theatre Lobby

Panelists include:

Mitch Menchaca is the chief operating officer and head of member services for Chorus America, the national advocacy, research, and leadership development organization for choruses, choral leaders, and singers.  Prior to Chorus America, he served as 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. 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.

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.

Clinton Yates is a D.C. native, Local News Editor for Express and a columnist for The Root DC. He was born at GWU hospital the week before Ronald Reagan ended up there for the wrong reasons. When he's not covering the city, pop culture or listening to music, he watches sports. A lot of them.