06.14.17

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VIDETTE summer WEDNESDAY, June 14, 2017 Vol. 129 / No. 63

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B-average could lead to free tuition PAGE 2 Kolbe looks to rebound in second season PAGE 8

Behind the red curtain

40th Illinois Shakespeare Festival calls for hard work before play STUART STALTER Senior Features Reporter

“The work that we do as artists is essential for societal progression. All social and political movements have begun in the arts, and with arts, we can critique and challenge social norms and ideologies of our time,” senior Illinois State University theater major Sam Rosenfeld said. William Shakespeare remains arguably the ultimate master of arts and social critique. ISU honors Shakespeare’s legacy through the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (ISF). This 40th season produces three Shakespearian

plays: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Shakespeare’s Amazing Cymbeline” and “I Heart Juliet.” The saying “business before pleasure” strongly applies to theater. ISF Managing Director William Prenevost gives insight on daunting behind-the-curtain business preparations. “We spend a good deal of time exploring different combinations of plays for a season with the need to match casting of three different shows with the same 25 or so actors,” Prenevost said. “Negotiating for rights to newer plays or adaptations and even commissioning new plays like ‘I Heart Juliet’ is an elaborate undertaking.”

Pressure soars as management transitions from scheduling to setting the operational budget. Prenevost notes that the budget undergoes at least 20 iterations before finalization. Management crunches numbers and predicts grant/donation scenarios countless times. Prenevost reports an overall 2017 budget of nearly $885,000. ISU provides approximately 39 percent, while ticket and venue sales provide the same percentage. Donations, grants and proceeds from a very small endowment covers the remainder, Prenevost said. see SHAKESPEARE page 6

ABOVE: (From left) Emily Wold, Susie Parr and Raffeal Sears rehearse an emotional scene from William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on the partial set designed by Joe Klug.

Photograph by Emily Kinasz | Vidette Photographer

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06.14.17 by Vidette Online - Issuu