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“Pray you, take note of it.”                                     
Duke in Measure for Measure, Act V, Scene 1

The monthly Speaking of Shakespeare programs are a joint venture of the Shakespeare Guild and The National Arts Club.

 
     
 

This program is dedicated to bringing actors, writers, directors, producers, critics and scholars to the National Arts Club in order to discuss the work of history's greatest English writer, William Shakespeare, and his continuing impact. A main focus has been intimate discussions with great classical actors talking about Shakespeare in performance.

 
     
  PRESIDENT OF THE SHAKESPEARE GUILD: John F. Andrews
NATIONAL ARTS CLUB PROGRAM CHAIR: Marguerite Yaghjian
CO-CHAIR: Ramona Bechtos
COMMITTEE: Lee Starr, Barbara Wortman
 
     
     
  The idea of having a regular series of programs on The Bard evolved from the fortuitous meeting of NAC President Aldon James and John Andrews, President of The Shakespeare Guild in Washington, DC. While strolling by the club one day in 2001, John noticed the bas relief of Shakespeare on the exterior of our building. Acting on a whim, he called upon Aldon, and found he was of like mind. The wheels were quickly set in motion and Shakespeare was welcomed to come inside.
 
     
 

COMING ATTRACTIONS 2007-2008

 
  October 15, 2007: The Speaking of Shakespeare committee and John Andrews will welcome back F. Murray Abraham, who has enthralled NAC members in the past with his special perspective on Shakespeare’s plays.  Some lucky members may have witnessed his exciting, edgy interpretation of the title role in Merchant of Venice at The Theater for a New Audience last season.  He is perhaps best know for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Salieri in the film version of Amadeus.

This season will also feature dialogues with playwright Ken Ludwig, journalist Judith Martin (better known as Miss Manners), actor Alvin Epstein, Columbia professor James Shapiro, and other luminaries.
 
 

 

RECENT EVENTS

 
  June 12, 2006: Sir John Gielgud Award for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts presented to Christopher Plummer
The Board of Governors of the NAC and the Shakespeare Guild presented The Golden Quill award to the distinguished actor Christopher Plummer at a festive salute that drew such luminaries as Zoe Caldwell, Lynn Redgrave, Robert MacNeill and Audra McDonald, among others. Previous recipients of the Golden Quill were Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Derek Jacobi, Zoe Caldwell and Lynn Redgrave.


 
 
     
May 15, 2006: Speaking of Shakespeare with Jeffrey Horowitz
Since establishing the Theater for a New Audience in 1970, Mr. Horowitz has become one of the most innovative and influential producers in the nation. He has worked with other leading directors and played an integral part in fostering the arts-education programs of
metropolitan New York. This coming season, he will take his second production to Stratford-upon-Avon, this time with F. Murray Abraham playing Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.

 
     
 
 
April 18, 2005: Speaking of Shakespeare with Lynn Redgrave
A founding member of Britain's Royal National Theatre, Lynn Redgrave has been the recipient of many awards, including the Order of the British Empire bestowed by Her Majesty the Queen of England. Her autobiographical one-woman show, Shakespeare For My Father, earned her a Tony nomination on Broadway, and she repeated her performance at London's Theater Royal Haymarket.


 
     
 

 

PREVIOUS SEASON'S GUESTS:

2006 – 2007
Martin Platt (director and founder of Alabama Shakespeare Festival)
Ron Rosenbaum (journalist)
Eleanor Bergstein (writer)
David Kastan (professor/author)
Roger Rees (actor)
Kate Forbes (actor)
Adam Gopnik (author)
Philip Goodwin (actor)
Alden & Virginia Vaughan (scholars/authors)

2005 - 2006
Michael Kahn (diector/producer)
Adam Gopnik (author)
James Shapiro (author)
F. Murray Abraham (actor)
Katherine Meisle (actor)
Barbara Romer (art historian)
Flora Fraser (author)
Jeffrey Horowitz (producer)
Christopher Plummer (actor)

2004 - 2005
Zoe Caldwell (actor)
Adam Gopnik (author)
Sir Harold Evans (author)
F. Murray Abraham (actor)
Lynn Redgrave (actor)
Robert MacNeil (author)

2003 - 2004
Richard Easton (actor)
Dana Ivey (actor)
Peter Shaffer (playwright)
Marian Seldes (actor)
Francine Segan (culinary historian)
Kevin Kline (actor)
Greg Daran (director)
Christpher Plummer (actor)

2002 - 2003
Bill Irwin (actor/author)
Jeffrey Horowitz (director/producer)
Henry Goodman (actor)
Simon Russell Beale (actor)
Roger Rees (actor)
Margot Harley (actor/producer/director)
David Schramm (actor)

2001-2002

F. Murray Abraham (actor)
Zoe Caldwell (actor)
Ben Cameron (president, Theatre Communications Group)
John Miller (biographer)


Speaking of Shakespeare has at times expanded its format, as in January 2004 when it invited culinary historian/lecturer Francine Segan to discuss the frequent references to food in Shakespeare's plays, and at the same time, had NAC's master chef Joseph Frappaolo prepare a special buffet of Elizabethan and Jacobean dishes taken from Ms. Segan's book, "Shakespeare's Kitchens." Shakespeare's influence also spread to the Film Committee in the 2004-2005 season when that committee concentrated its season on such films as Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer's Night Dream and Julius Caesar.


 
 
 

 

ABOUT THE SHAKESPEARE GUILD:
John F. Andrews founded The Shakespeare Guild in 1987 as a non-profit corporation that seeks to cultivate a larger audience for the poet long revered as the greatest writer in the English language. In 1994, the Guild inaugurated the Sir John Gielgud Award for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts To learn more about The Shakespeare Guild see contact information as follows.

John F. Andrews, OBE
Executive Director, ESU Washington
President, The Shakespeare Guild
1604 New Hampshire Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20009-2512
Phone 202 234 4602 Fax 202 234 4639
http://www.esuwdc.org
esuwdc@msn.com