Bishop’s University Spring Musical 2009
A musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest with
songs by Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, The Rolling Stones and other
legends of rock music. The play features the talents of Bishop
University’s finest student actors and vocalists.
Stage adaptation and direction: George Rideout
Musical direction: Jamie Crooks and Fannie Gaudette
Choreography by Cory Bowles
June 12-20
Turner Studio Theatre
8:00 p.m.
Bishop’s University Campus
Sherbrooke, Quebec (burrough of Lennoxville)
Tickets: $15 / $10 students
Box Office (819) 822-9692
For further information contact ROBEIRNE07@ubishops.ca
We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
Prospero—from The Tempest
THE CHIMES OF FREEDOM combines the edited text of one of
Shakespeare’s most loved plays, The Tempest, and the music of Bob Marley,
Bob Dylan, & The Rolling Stones. This year’s production continues what
has become a widely anticipated theatrical event in the Eastern Townships
that in past years has played to sold out houses for eight consecutive nights.
DIRECTION & ADAPTATION: George Rideout is the award winning
author of over a dozen plays including An Anglophone is Coming to Dinner,
Texas Boy, The Tall Girl, and Dead Together. His work has been produced
in theatres across Canada. Rideout’s previous adaptations for the Bishop’s
stage include A Beatles Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Ballad of Romeo
and Juliet, and Pride and Prejudice.
MUSICAL DIRECTION: Jamie Crooks & Fannie Gaudette have
combined to make the annual University Singers Choir Show the
entertainment event of the year on the Bishop’s campus. Their collaborations
also include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (2008), Handel’s Messiah (2007),
The Ballad of Romeo and Juliet (2007), A Beatles Midsummer Night’s
Dream (2006), African Sanctus (2004) and Half a Sixpence (2004)
CHOREOGRAPHY: Cory Bowles is the principle choreographer and
director of Verve Mwendo and Think Tank Creation. He is a sought-after
instructor whose workshops have taken him across Nova Scotia, to the
Arctic, and to the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, where he was a senior
artist in the Aboriginal Arts Program. In addition to his work as a dancer and
choreographer, Cory was a regular on the enormously popular television
series Trailer Park Boys (for which he received a Gemini Award).
COSTUME DESIGN: Nicole Labbe has designed the costumes for
several shows at Bishop’s, including 12th Night, Goodnight Desdemona,
Alice Through the Looking Glass, A Beatles Midsummer Night’s Dream, and
The Ballad of Romeo and Juliet.
LIGHTING DESIGN: Michael Medland has been lighting shows since
1986, including numerous designs for Bishop’s Drama, and several for the
Piggery Theatre. His recent designs include Julius Caesar, The Madwoman
of Chaillot, Indian Blood, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night’s
Dream (for the 3rd time!)
TEXT COACH: Jo Jo Rideout is one of the premiere voice teachers in
Canada, having taught at The Stratford Festival Theatre, Soulpepper
Theatre, and The National Theatre School.
O Brave new world
That has such people in it.
Miranda—from The Tempest
SYNOPSIS: Twelve years before the timeframe of the play, the great
magician, Prospero, and his infant daughter, Miranda were put out to sea on
a derelict boat by his brother and usurper, Antonio, Duke of Milan. The boat
was steered by the fates to an island in the Caribbean whose only human
inhabitant is the “monster” Caliban.
As the play begins Prospero is master of the island with Caliban as his slave
and the spirit, Ariel, as his indentured servant. Miranda, now fifteen, has
never seen a human being other than her father and the half-human Caliban.
As chance would have it, the ship of a wedding party, made up of Prospero’s
evil brother, the King of Naples, his son, and all their attendant lords passes
by the island. Prospero creates a tempest to wreck the ship and force his old
enemies onto the island so that he may finally get revenge.
The Chimes of Freedom (the title coming from Bob Dylan’s great folk
anthem) speaks to an underlying theme in The Tempest. As Prospero has
been wronged by his brother, so does he, in turn, enslave and exploit the
natives of the island—Caliban and the spirits—with his powers. And as
Prospero must turn the tables on those who have wronged him, Caliban too
must “stand up for his rights.” Subtly, but convincingly, The Tempest is an
indictment of colonialism and the subjugation of another people in the name
of nation building. The Chimes of Freedom explores this theme through
Shakespeare’s original dialogue and songs of the Golden Age of Rock
music.
Take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind…
Bob Dylan—Mr. Tambourine Man
The Chimes of Freedom—List of Songs
Original artist[s]
The End
The Doors
Blowing in the Wind
Bob Dylan
No Woman, No Cry
Bob Marley
Midnight Rambler
The Rolling Stones
Mr. Tambourine Man
Bob Dylan
Chimes of Freedom
Bob Dylan
Tiptoe Through the Tulips
Tiny Tim
Rainy Day Women 12 &35
Bob Dylan
Catch the Wind
Donovan
Sympathy for the Devil
The Rolling Stones
Stand Up for Your Rights
Bob Marley
She’s a Rainbow
The Rolling Stones
Who Let the Dogs Out
The Baja Men
2000 Light Years from Home
The Rolling Stones
Sing This All Together
The Rolling Stones
Exodus
Bob Marley
Please allow me to introduce myself…
Sympathy for the Devil
(Jagger/Richards)
We the generation
Trod through great tribulation.
Exodus by Bob Marley
poster art by VisImage