Funding the Arts -To Take or Not to Take. That is the question in “Polishing Shakespeare” at Bridge Street Theatre

UPDATED: April 16, 2025 at 10:04 AM EDT

Link to original article: https://www.saratogian.com/2025/04/16/shakespeare-and-chekhov-are-on-the-theater-menu-for-easter-weekend/

CATSKILL, N.Y. — There is a saying, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” A new play, “Polishing Shakespeare,” demands you look a gift horse in the mouth and everywhere else. The work that opens tonight at Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill is a play about philanthropic giving in the arts. It runs through April 27.

The setup is simple. A very, very wealthy man comes to the artistic director of a financially challenged theater company. His stated goal is to spread the works of Shakespeare by making the plays accessible to the average person. He wants Shakespeare rewritten in what he calls simple, contemporary English. No iambic pentameter or flourishing Elizabethan metaphors.

The artistic director hires a young female playwright of color to rewrite Shakespeare. The writer agrees to do the work but has second thoughts. The play covers the important issue of when funding becomes more important than the work being produced. It can be summed up by two words – Kennedy Center.

Playing the artistic director is Yvonne Perry, a local actor who is a member of Actors’ Equity. She often performs at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany, where she is also an Associate Artist. The playwright is played by Angelique Archer, an Equity actress who resides in New York City. She’s appeared in 12 of the 38 plays written by Shakespeare. Steven Patterson is the donor. He, too, is a professional actor and a co-founder of Bridge Street Theatre. The person who wrote “Polishing Shakespeare” is Brian Dykstra.

Perry says, “The playwright realizes before anyone else that what is happening is that in the name of the public good, the poetry in Shakespeare’s plays is being eliminated. It’s another step in the process of dumbing down America.”

Perry teaches acting at various local colleges. She’s also a certified intimacy director who worked at Bridge Street on EAST OF BERLIN, as well as many other regional companies. Because of that background in theater, she expresses a deep sense of empathy for her character’s plight. “My theater company needs financial help to survive. Here’s a guy offering me a lot of money. It’s easy for me to convince myself that I am not selling out my artistic principles.”

She says she loves the role because she is the character “in the middle”. “The young playwright immediately recognizes the danger of corrupting Shakespeare. At first, I see her resistance as a problem. By play’s end, I see her as the solution.”

She quickly adds that the play is not a polemic. She points to the playwright’s various methods she uses to sabotage the project. Her favorite is that the play she uses is Henry VIII. “She picks that obscure work because it’s a really bad play,” she laughs.

In an email interview, Patterson agrees with Perry on all counts, especially on the play’s central theme of funding. Patterson, who plays the philanthropist, says, “There is no solution. Raising money from outside sources is necessary for survival.” However, pointing to his nefarious character, he cautions, “Big donors might have a reason of their own for their philanthropy.”

As an actor, he says his job is not to play the man as a villain. At least not in the beginning. “So much of the play is revealed in stages,” he explains. “His idea sounds honest, until you realize he’s not interested in making Shakespeare accessible to all. His motive is putting people in the seats. Realizing professional theater is also a business, he agrees with the importance of selling tickets. However, he adds, “As the plays makes clear, the fight for creative integrity and freedom of thought is an ongoing battle.”

Perry concludes, saying this is a work that will appeal to those who are active in the business of theater, as well as others who simply enjoy attending plays. “It’s fun and insightful,” she says. Referring to the themes of the play, she adds, “And, it certainly isn’t dumb.”

“Polishing Shakespeare” at Bridge Street Theatre, Catskill. Tonight through Sunday, April 24-27. For tickets and information, go to bridgest.org

Originally Published: April 16, 2025 at 10:00 AM EDT