It was a comfortably cool Tuesday night when Villeins Ben Atkinson, Benedict Burgess, Jackson Davis, Laura Heck, Franny Rabasa, John Rabasa, Audrey Scialla welcomed their first NIGHTS of VILLEINY audience to the Stage at WTJU. With a seating limit of 25, we were able to sell out our midweek Shakespeare extravaganza.

NIGHTS of VILLEINY poster with a SOLD OUT stamp across it

We presented our blend of Shakespeare scenes and monologues, framed by informational segues which set up and clarified each story. We had the assistance of Villein Jane McDonald who ran the sound, which was designed by Arch-Villein Ben Atkinson. And friend-of-the-Villeins, Eliza Banaszak, volunteered as House Manager for the evening.

In now-traditional Villeins fashion, we had a tiny window of time to create our unique and motley atmosphere and set up before the doors would open. Everyone chipped in, bringing unique, personal decorations and collaborating to get everything in place just in time for the audience to arrive.

A photo of the Villeins on stage at the first NIGHTS of VILLEINY performance

The show was a random revue of scenes chosen by our participating Villeins.

They were:

TWELFTH NIGHT (I.iii)
Laura Heck as Maria
Ben Atkinson as Sir Toby Belch
John Rabasa as Sir Andrew Aguecheek

AS YOU LIKE IT (III.v)
Audrey Scialla as Phoebe
Jackson Davis as Silvius

HAMLET (I.ii)
Jackson Davis as Hamlet
Ben Atkinson as Claudius
Laura Heck as Gertrude
Benedict Burgess as Laertes
John Rabasa as Polonius
Franny Rabasa as Ophelia
Audience “Volunteers” as Cornelius and Voltemand

HAMLET (I.iii)
John Rabasa as Polonius
Benedict Burgess as Laertes
Franny Rabasa as Ophelia

HAMLET (III.i)
Franny Rabasa as Ophelia

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (IV.iii)
Jackson Davis as Dromio of Ephesus
Laura Heck as Adriana
Franny Rabasa as Luciana

JULIUS CAESAR (II.i)
Audrey Scialla as Portia
Benedict Burgess as Brutus

KING HENRY IV pt. 1 (I.ii)
Benedict Burgess as Hal
Ben Atkinson as Falstaff

The show concluded to a wonderful surge of applause and appreciation all around for what was, both for the Villeins and the many who voiced their reactions afterward, a genuinely joyful experience.

Cast Photo of the Villeins with their sign after a performance

Cast Photo of the Villeins along with the tech staff after the performance

Having this opportunity to indulge in and demonstrate our love of Shakespeare, and to continue learning from the experience of bringing these scenes to life in front of an audience, is a reward in and of itself.

And we were grateful for the audience’s generous donations, made when reserving tickets. A portion of all donations will be given to Habitat for Humanity.

OUR VENUE SPONSOR

None of this would have been possible without the generosity of our venue sponsor WTJU for giving us access to their stage both for rehearsals and for this performance.

Find out more about them and their programs here.

SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS!

Leading up to the production our Social Media Marketing team (Ben and Benedict) were hard at work creating a couple of campaigns to catch the attention of followers old and new.