About Us:
The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company's performance philosophy is based primarily on the original staging practices of acting companies from Shakespeare's own period. The use of original staging practices is a recent movement in the production of Shakespeare's plays, a movement with such proponents as the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia.
Since its founding, the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company has sought to explore such original practice elements as:
1. Performance in non-traditional theatrical spaces. The touring companies of Early Modern England performed not only in purpose-built playhouses like the Globe and the Blackfriars, but in such venues as innyards and noblemen's houses. The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company performs primarily in non-theatre spaces, including outdoor settings, bookstores, restaurants, country clubs, bed and breakfasts, and the Dog Story Theatre, a mutable black-box style space. Finding creative ways to use a variety of spaces -- including theatres of different architectural types as well as non-theatre spaces -- keeps the actors on their toes and results in an exciting and spontaneous performance atmosphere.
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2. Universal lighting. Shakespeare's audiences sat in the same light as the actors, either in outdoor playhouses or in candle-lit indoor playhouses. The members of the audience were visible to the actors and to each other. Because of this visible audience, many playwrights of that era wrote the audience into their plays, giving the actors lines to speak directly to the audience. The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company performs in universal lighting and employs audience contact in its performances, making audience members feel as if they are a part of the play.
