"How will this fadge?" -Viola, Twelfth Night

Viola in Twelfth Night discovers early in the play that she may have set off a chain reaction of events by disguising herself as a man. Olivia, who Viola is supposed to be courting for Orsino, has fallen in love with her, thinking she is in fact a man. She states, "How will this fadge?" In Elizabethan speak, this means, "how will this turn out?" This is my statement for the season. I have been joking that I want a t-shirt that says, Blue Ridge Summer Theatre Festival 2011 on the front and on the back it will say, "How will this fadge?"

Well, it has been a great first half of the season and we are off to a great start. By far, this is the highest quality season we have produced. I know we are making growth every year. Our artists are engaged in continuing to elevate the work we do. We won't be satisfied with the past and we are always moving forward. The work has always been good, but we are moving closer and closer to excellence. I am more and more hopeful that we will meet our ticket goals this season, but no matter what happens, I will know that we can proudly stand by the work we have produced and that feels really good.

Assassins finale

As I stated in my last post, Assassins was a season choice that was about quality and not about being a popular title. During this opening weekend I watched audiences become electrified by the work that our team has produced and I believe that this will ultimately bring us a longer lasting audience base. Much more than a mediocre production of Annie (nothing against the little red head) would have (nor would we have done a mediocre production of it ;) ). We are engaging audiences beyond the obvious or easy. This makes me profoundly proud.

Check out LynchburgTheatre.com's review here.

As we head into Twelfth Night there are some things I can't control. I can't control the weather and I can control the unseen variables like squirrels running through a scene or an Amherst County High School student testing out his car stereo system's bass in the parking lot, but I do have a lot of hopes for the success of this production in regards to quality. The cast is fantastic. One of the best through and through casts we have had to date on an outdoor Shakespeare, plus the show is just a blast. Shakespeare knew what he was doing.

In usual Endstation form we are bringing a space already filled with visual spectacle to theatrical life, fully utilizing it. Our actors are also doing incredible work bringing the language to life with vivid expertise and energy. I can't wait to share this with an audience.

So... "How will this fadge?" Not sure, but I know I am holding my head high as we move through this journey.

Geoffrey Kershner

Artistic Director