Steven H Silver points out that the Washington Shakespeare Company will be giving a fundraising performance of “By Any Other Name: An Evening of Shakespeare in Klingon” with special guest George Takei, on 25 September 2010.
WSC writes “This unique production includes performances of memorable Shakespearean scenes presented in both English and Klingon. Appearing with WSC for this one-night-only event is legendary actor George Takei (who played Sulu in the original series).”
Takei says “I’ve never participated in an event that brings Shakespeare and Star Trek together in this unusual way. It will be a new and exciting experience for me, and I’m looking forward to boldly going where I’ve never gone before!”
The genesis of the event began with the current president of WSC’s board: Marc Okrand, who originally created the Klingon language. Okrand is a linguist who helped launch television’s closed captioning service for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Okrand says “Translations of Shakespeare into Klingon and my involvement with WSC began at about the same time. I was always trying to figure out how to get the two together. Given WSC’s creative approach to Shakespeare, performing scenes in Klingon struck me as something obvious to try. The upcoming celebration of WSC’s 21st season presents a great opportunity to pull these elements together in typical WSC fashion—and to offer an evening that’s both serious and fun.”
Joining Takei on stage will be WSC’s Artistic Director Christopher Henley, and other members of the company. The cast will perform scenes and speeches in both English and Klingon from Hamlet, Julius Caesar, and Much Ado About Nothing (with a same sex couple performing as Beatrice and Benedick).”WSC has tackled everything from an all-nude production of Macbeth to an all-female production of The Taming of the Shrew; thus, taking on Shakespeare in a completely fictional, sci-fi language isn’t daunting for Henley. WSC continues to take chances. Our brand of non-traditional, risk-taking theater is exactly what sets us apart and wins over audiences from around the region. We have evolved from a scrappy to a substantial company, without losing our edge. It’s a special treat to celebrate our new space [in October, the WSC moves into new space in Rosslyn, Virginia] and our 21st year with such a generous and enormous talent as George Takei.”
“By Any Other Name: An Evening of Shakespeare in Klingon” featuring George Takei will take to the boards at 8PM on 25 September 2010, at the Rosslyn Spectrum in Arlington, Virginia. In addition to the scenes from Shakespeare, the performance will include an introduction by Okrand and a Q-and-A session with Takei, Okrand, and Henley at the conclusion of the show.
Tickets (available from this page) are $150 (includes admission and four passes for the WSC 2010-11 season) and $250 (includes a ticket to the VIP reception following the performance).
The WSC adds, qaStaHvIS wanI’vam yIDachQo’! (in other words, “Don’t miss this event!”).