Learn about Irish playwrights via PICT free webinar series
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The lives of influential Irish playwrights will be explored in a five-week interactive online webinar series presented by PICT Classic Theatre.
“The Irishing of English Theatre” will begin at 2 p.m. Fridays beginning April 3, and will be presented by Alan Stanford, artistic and executive director of the Pittsburgh-based theater company.
The webinars will highlight the nature of each playwright’s work and the influence that each had on the development of English theatrical writing. The series is free and appropriate for all ages.
The current schedule for the 60-minute programs includes:
• April 3: George Farquhar (1677-1707) — The Derry and Dublin Exile
• April 10: Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) — A Man at His Own Fireside
• April 17: Oscar Wilde (1854 –1900) — A Man of Simple Tastes
• April 24: George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) — A Man of Many Words
• May 1: Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) — Waiting to End
Registration is available 0n the PICT website, where donations also can be made to support the series.
Stanford has been artistic and executive director of PICT Classic Theatre since 2013, although he worked with the company for several years prior. He came to Pittsburgh from Dublin, Ireland, where he was an associate actor and director at the renowned Gate Theatre for more than 30 years.
At the Gate, he was best known for his performances as Pozzo in Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” a production which toured the world, and as Herod in Wilde’s “Salome.” As a director, he was regarded as a leading authority on the works of Wilde, as well as Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett, according to PICT.
Stanford also established his own company, Second Age, which concentrated on classic texts especially for younger audiences.
Details: picttheatre.org