 In the studio, my name is Jeff Shaw, and with me today, we are honored to have members of the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble with us today, Gabby Patista and Sidney Schwint. You guys are both employees at the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble, and welcome, thanks for coming in today and talk to us about your crazy busy summer, you guys are always doing something. I think Davis is lucky to have a Shakespeare Ensemble, it's kind of rare for communities to have such a thing. So when I know when it was first started, it was sort of made a big splash, and it seems like you've continued that work over the years. So anyway, yeah, the summer is going to be a big, big production. Why don't you tell me about some of the shows that are going on this season that you guys are preparing for before we talk about some of the other things that you guys are doing. Oh, great. Well, thanks for having us. First of all, it's awesome to be here. Well, our shows this summer, we're going along the theme of Summer of Adventure. So we have two shows in Repertory, they're going on at the same time, every other night is a different show. So the two shows we have are Wonderful Town by Leonard Bernstein, and The Three Musketeers. And so what does that mean real quick for those of us who are not, what does in Repertory mean exactly? So we have five shows a weekend and every show switches. So Thursday night might be Three Musketeers, then Friday night will be Wonderful Town. So we have to, our crew comes in, they change up the set and everything. And is that just to make it totally crazy for yourself? They're like, what is the idea behind that exactly as far as set and everything? A little bit. I mean, it's definitely crazy, but I think it's one, it's exciting for our artists that a lot of them get to be in two shows. So it's a challenge for an artist, but it's also for the community. You're going to see these people living in different parts. And so we usually pair our shows up on a theme as our adventure theme this year. There's something going through each of the shows that lines up with each other. They're meant to be seen together. There's some interesting parallels every time we do a Rep show. For instance, there's a character in Three Musketeers who's Carnal Richelieu and he's the evil character. And he has a scene where he's painting a masterpiece. And then he is a populous in Wonderful Town and he's the landlord, but he's also a painter as well. So it's funny when you line up these characters and you go, wait, you paint in both plays? It's really interesting. Were those coincidence planned or sort of just these themes run in a lot of plays? Some of the characters are planned just in terms of character arc. For instance, my sister and I play sisters in Wonderful Town and we play rivals in Three Musketeers. And there's a couple, the love interest in Three Musketeers play a couple of Wonderful Towns. So there are some that we partner with, but then there's those little surprises that come up that are really fun. Like the painting. Interesting for us and we find new discoveries in that. Sure, and I'm sure the feedback from attendees is great too. So this runs June 22nd through August 6th, those two. And then after that, what's happening at the end of the summer? We've got a Midsummer Night's Dream. So we extended our festival last year for the first time to coincide with the school year in the fall. And so our Midsummer Night's Dream this year is actually really exciting because it's our little give back to Davis. It's celebrating the Davis Centennial. So it's actually set in Davis and there's going to be many bicycles. So when you say school year, you mean UC Davis or you mean the school district? Both. But mainly for the school district because with our fall production, we started offering student matinees. So we've been working hand in hand with different schools in the area that they come in and they'll see their own special production of a Midsummer Night's Dream where the actors stay afterwards and there's a talk back with them. Okay. And so that's September 20th and the fall end to the October 15th. They said it's Davis centric and how is that again? So it's going to be set in Davis. Oh, okay. And so when the lovers go into the forest, they're going into the Davis Arboretum. Okay. Yeah. Very cool. So work on that already happening then I assume or how is that? Not quite yet. So rehearsals for that don't start till August. So we give ourselves a little break between the craziness of the repertoire and then we pop into the... Designing will be, I think we're in the process of designing the show. Okay. Yeah. So that's the beginning stages of putting a show together. So the design has been bicycles and setting it in Davis and our graphic designer Evan Claibor is putting together the graphics for the show and for the poster. So we already have our poster and it's got a water tower in the back. Yeah. So it's the Davis water tower. So yeah, we're getting started and we're generating more ideas. And it seems like you pull a lot from the local community as far as getting artists involved. You mentioned Evan's name and I know he's a local artist who has involved in lots of different projects. Yes. So your roles at the company, give me... I know you have an official title but what is your... What will be your role in these productions as well? And I guess we'll start with you, Gaby. Sure. So as the community outreach coordinator director, I am looking to find more ways to partner with businesses in Davis, especially in the summer season. It can be slow for some businesses. UC students are gone and the town fills with the families that are coming out for the summer. So it would be great to continue to improve strengthening our partnerships with different businesses in Davis. So we have right now the co-op is sponsoring us this summer, which is an amazing partnership. We did patio takeover. We got to perform on the patio. Very cool. We also have a partnership with... We've had past partnerships with Devere's and we have sub work here. So I'm looking to expand in that direction. Also looking for ads and just finding ways that we could help other businesses too. We could promote them and they can promote us. And it would be so fun to create a grander festival every year just to slowly increase it with beer pouring or even food trucks. Half people have lunch in the park in between a two-show day. So really trying to expand on that image and idea, especially with the vets and having such a pretty view of the park. Yeah. And I'm glad to hear that Davis is supportive of the arts. And then what is your role in the production itself as far as... Sorry. There's two parts to it. There's a lot of hats we put on. So that's that hat and the other hat. In wonderful town I play Eileen Sherwood. She is... She and her sister Ruth Sherwood, who's my sister, Gia Batista. They are characters from... They come from Ohio and they're moving to New York to make it big. Eileen wants to go into the theater and Ruth wants to be a writer. And it is rocky to begin with. So they get an apartment and it's not that great. It's terrible. It's terrible. It's a shack under a subway and they're basically outside. And then in Three Musketeers I'm playing Sabine. So she's another adventurous character. She's a Dirtanian sister. Yes. And Cindy, how about you? What is your official title with the company? And then what role are you doing or what are you doing for these productions? So my official title is I'm Education Director. So we'll get into that a little bit later talking about our different education programs. But for the summer festival I'm Fight Director for Three Musketeers. Which is crazy because there are over 18 pieces of violence in that show alone. So our actors are running around the stage learning how to fight with swords. There's knives. There's muskets. There's all sorts of different things we've got to do. Wow. And do you have a lot of background in knives and muskets? No. Yeah, actually. Wow, awesome. Yeah, so I've been personally studying stage combat since I was 14. Okay. Something I fell into in summer camp and fell in love with and have been working towards them. And so which production can have 18 pieces of violence? Three musketeers. Oh yeah, of course. Yeah, lots and lots of sword fighting. And so your job is to, what is the title for that again? Fight Director. Fight Director. Excellent. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. It's definitely crazy. Dirtanianism, almost every fight. So he's got so much choreography to memorize. Yes. Well, since you mentioned it, let's talk a little bit about Camp Shakespeare in Shakespeare School. So what is that exactly? And I know this is done each summer though. Yes, we're about to enter our seventh summer of Camp Shakespeare. Yeah, so every summer we've got several different camps that happen in the Davis Arboretum. Okay, right. And our first camp session is July 10th through July 21st. All right. Which is 8 to 13. And there our kids get to delve into Shakespeare. We do scenes from our summer, so they'll be doing some mid-summer night's dream. They'll also be doing a little bit of three musketeers, even though it's not Shakespeare. Sure. And from there they learn some Elizabethan dances. We teach some sword fighting. I was just going to ask, are they doing sword fighting? They are, definitely. They actually get to make their own swords. Okay. Which is really fun because our kids, they design swords out of cardboard. And then we cut them out and put dowels in them so that they'll hold up actually. And then we teach them sword fighting through that. Very cool. Yeah. So they put on their own production at the end of the two weeks. In the Arboretum? Mm-hmm. Okay. And I've seen their parents. Yep. We fill up. Tons of parents come and family. And these camps put in all summer or couple? Couple. So we've got session one is, as I said, July 10th through July 21st. And then we've got session two, which is July 24th through August 4th. And that also at the same time is that we have Teen Camp. Oh. So Teen Camp actually happens at the Vets Memorial Theater. Okay. So it's a little bit more serious there. They go into, they've got movement classes, some voice and speech. They get a little bit more hands-on with learning about Shakespeare's history. So we go into Will and the World there. And then they as well put on their own production, having done some monologue studies. And I assume that's for ages after 13? Yeah. 14 through 17 or whatever? 14 through 17 about. Excellent. And they're open to boys and girls at both camps, I assume. Cool. Tell me a little bit about Shakespearean school. I assume that happens when school's inside. Yeah. So that's with our Midsummer Night's Dream. So that's our student matinee program. So this year we've got three student matinee productions. I believe they're September 28th, October 5th, and October 12th. Impressive. At 10 a.m. Okay. Yeah. So what those are is we just started this last year. I'm particularly excited about this program because we've had schools from all over the region start contacting us. Yeah. So they come to Davis. Okay. So they'll come to Davis to the vets and see 10 a.m. matinee production of the show with the talk-back session. And there is the option for a school to hire on an additional preliminary workshop. Beforehand, so two of our actors will come to their school and give a little introduction to Shakespeare and the plot. Yeah. And that was, last year we did it with Romeo and Julia, and it was just really exciting to see these kids so excited about Shakespeare. Right. And then having this personal interaction with the characters, I know the gentlemen who played Romeo and they went to several schools. And there's a certain age of kids just get really excited about that stuff. Yeah. I think I'm not hitting them at that age, but sort of exposing them to that at that age I think is a good way to get them. Well, it's also to them not to be afraid of Shakespeare that it is English and you can understand it. And it's just a story that you should enjoy. Yes, exactly. And so without that fear that someone's told them they're not going to understand it, they learn to love it and then they don't fear the classics or other things. If someone tells them they're not going to understand it, they know, oh, I can understand it. I get Shakespeare. This will be easy. Well, I think that speaks to your guys' larger mission in general, the Davis Shakespeare Ensembles, exposing people to that and getting over their fear of Shakespeare. Yeah. Well, we're running out of time, so it's a quick interview, but I'm glad we were able to touch bases on so many different things that you guys are working on. Your summers are just jam packed. And I know that they're very popular with the Davis kids and parents. We have, again, the Camp Shakespeare. We have Shakespeare since school in the fall. And then to remind us again, we have Wonderful Town in Musketeers running June 22nd through August 6th, right? And then starting September 20th. It's a mid-summer night's dream, right? That's correct. So where do they get, where do people go for more information if they, if they want to get more information on your, what's your website? It's www.ShakespeareDavis.org. Okay, ShakespeareDavis.org. We've been talking to Gaby Patista and Sidney Schwint of the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble. And thanks for tuning in and tune in next time for In the Studio. Thank you. You're welcome. Thanks for coming in.