Longwood University Theatre

The instructions are to research an event that changed us as Americans.  This group chose the Pandemic.  There were several steps they had to follow: research the event, create fictional characters, create nonfiction dialogue for the characters they created based on their research, and finally create a readers theatre.  This presentation was presented to the Longwood campus on Research Day.  I thought it was worth sharing.  Many of the students in this are not theatre majors but have a desire as future elementary teachers to bring theatre into their  future students. 

Description:

Unified in Misery

2.62 million, 529 thousand, 9,849, these numbers have changed our lives forever. Through a global, a national, or a local lens, the number of deaths caused by the Corona Virus created financial instability, fear, and heartache. Yet, did it unify our nation under an umbrella of misery? The purpose of this research project was to examine the effects of the global pandemic on Americans, their livelihood, their family relationships, and our nation’s society.

Watch the video HERE.

Listen to our Holmes & Watson, Matthew Howard and Erica Johnson, talk about “Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” in this radio interview which aired today on WFLO.

https://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/5/2/a/52a10c1d5e8ea437/Call_Flo_-_March_31_2021.mp3?c_id=99811553&cs_id=99811553&expiration=1617215549&hwt=be67e995539a41d614eddd55cc8ffcee

Longwood Theatre Department’s Spring 2021 Show

“Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” is based on the novel ” The Hound of the Baskervilles”…..but did you know  that in “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, Sherlock Holmes is a zombie?

It’s true…..sort of.

Author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle kills off his famous detective at the end of the short story “The Final Problem,” published in 1894. Conan Doyle resented the fact that demands for his Holmes stories were overwhelming all of his other, more serious, writing projects. So Conan Doyle killed off Holmes by throwing his character into a waterfall with his archenemy Doctor Moriarty. And then he got down to the business of writing novels hardly anyone reads today. While Conan Doyle may have regarded the Holmes stories as trashy fiction, he had to admit that they paid well. Everybody wanted to read about Sherlock Holmes. So in 1901, Conan Doyle brushed off his detective’s old pipe and magnifying glass and produced another Holmes story: the novel-length “The Hound of the Baskervilles”. He published it first in chapters for the Strand Magazine and then as a book in 1902.

The reason we say that Holmes is a zombie in this novel is not because he has an uncontrollable desire for brains. But “The Hound of the Baskervilles” came out seven years after Conan Doyle killed off Holmes, and four years before Conan Doyle officially brought Holmes back to life, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905). So, like any good zombie, the Holmes in “Baskervilles” is both alive and dead: alive because the novel is set before his official “death” in 1894, and dead because the book came out before Conan Doyle committed to bringing Holmes back permanently.

Remember to keep up with all the Longwood Theatre action and prepare for our production of “Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” coming this Spring!

We are back! We hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday break and that you were able to spend time with family and friends despite the safety restrictions.

We hope you were able to see and enjoy our online virtual performance last fall of “She Kills Monsters”. Many of you will recall we we’re planning to perform “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” when the pandemic hit hard last Spring. Well we are in the process of putting it all together to present to you as an online virtual performance this Spring! The show is all cast and the backstage work is being done for expected viewing dates in April.

“Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” is a play by American playwright Ken Ludwig. It premiered in Washington, D.C. in January 2015. The play is a humorous adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1902 novel The Hound of the Baskervilles featuring over forty characters played by five actors. Follow this blog and our social media ( Facebook, Twitter, Instagram ) to stay in the know about what’s happening in Longwood Theatre!

Longwood Theatre’s first ever completely virtual performance, “She Kills Monsters: virtual realms” by Qui Nguyen, is now one for the history books! This was a bold new step for everyone in the department and all the students and faculty took the challenge head on with much success!

Hopefully you got the chance to enjoy this free performance! The actors and crew did a phenomenal job , and while we may nave had a few computer glitches at the “opening”, everything ended up working just fine.

Thank you to all of who watched the performance and for your continued support of Longwood theatre!

Please be advised before viewing; some subject matter and language are for those 18 and older.