Shakespeare In Action - College of Arts + Architecture

Action Shakespeare

Housed in the College of Arts and Architecture, but working across colleges and disciplines (particularly the departments of English and Theatre), Action Shakespeare serves to advance and coordinate various activities and initiatives related to the production and exploration of Shakespeare’s work and that of his contemporaries. Its goal is to further the study and enjoyment of Renaissance/Early Modern drama and culture, particularly through performance, on campus and in the broader Charlotte community. SIA brings in guest speakers for lectures, round tables and colloquia; integrates live performance into campus learning; provides student scholarships and sponsors special classes, including a spring break program in England. SIA orchestrates student and faculty gatherings, is actively engaged in community outreach, engages with area schools, and is dedicated to fostering dialogue between experts in theatre, literature, history, art, psychology, music, education and other areas of art and material culture relevant to the study of Shakespeare’s works.

Semester happenings

Globe4Globe 2025: Shakespeare & Environmental Justice
The Globe4Globe 2025 symposium draws together scholars, practitioners, activists & educators to explore how Shakespeare’s works relate to ideas of environmental justice historically and in the present. The 24-hour symposium will feature voices from across the globe working at the intersection of Shakespeare, performance and environmental justice. Action Shakespeare Director Rob Conkie will be speaking, with the expert collaborative assistance of professors Ben Stickels, David Janowiak and Roxanne Wellington, at this event on Friday, Sept. 12 at 11 a.m. Register FREE here: https://events.humanitix.com/globe4globe

Shakespeare’s Sass
This one-woman show – devised and directed by Rob Conkie, assistant directed by Elle Bilips, and performed by Ariana Zappley – will be rehearsing on Monday nights and will go into schools for a pilot season before Christmas!

Enter Nurse, or Love’s Labor’s Won
Professor Scott Maisano of the University of Massachusetts ( Boston) has commissioned Action Shakespeare to make a short film of one scene from his play Enter Nurse, a sequel to Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost (and a prequel to Romeo and Juliet). The film will be screened at the 2026 Shakespeare Association of America conference in Denver, CO. Look out for audition notices.

Othello
Last year, the Action Shakespeare troupe took scenes from Othello into Garinger High School. We are looking to do this again. Stay tuned…

Casting Call
Fourth-year film directing student Minh Ngo from UNC School of the Arts is casting UNC Charlotte acting and Shakespeare students in his thesis film – The Odyssemen, an absurdist Shakespearean epic. In a collaboration between artists and the two schools, Ngo says, “I would love to potentially collaborate with the talented actors from UNC Charlotte and believe that we will have a delightful time!” Details posted outside the Action Shakespeare office (Robinson Hall 365).

Excursions
Led by Professor Kirk Melnikoff, chair of English, and largely funded by Mr. Twig Branch, 12 English and Theatre majors will visit the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada, Sept 12-15. A highlight promises to be legendary auteur Robert Lepage’s production of Macbeth.

And led by Professor Janowiak, chair of Theatre, 24 theatre students and 8 faculty will visit the American Shakespeare Center Nov. 1-2. There will be heartbreak, dogs, pirates, and music!

Finally, not Shakespeare, but Jane Austen: We are hoping to collaborate with the marvelous Independent Picture House on a theatre + film event. More soon…

History

Shakespeare in Action was established by Dr. Andrew Hartley, UNC Charlotte’s first Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare Studies, with Professor of English Kirk Melnikoff. SIA’s activities are funded in part by the chaired position’s endowment. In Spring 2022, Dr. Hartley retired from UNC Charlotte, and in Fall 2023, the College of Arts + Architecture welcomed Dr. Rob Conkie as the new Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare Studies.

Between 2010 and 2016, SIA’s various activities coalesced into a single project called “36 in 6,” the mission of which was to host an event connected to each play in the Shakespeare cannon in the 6-year period leading up to the 400^th anniversary of his death on April 23rd, 2016. In keeping with SIA’s previous work, these events took different forms—lectures by professors with particular expertise in the selected play, staged readings, theatre department productions, and guest productions—all culminating in a gala event built around As You Like It.

SIA was on hiatus for the 2016-17 academic year while Dr. Hartley was away on reassignment of duties. In 2017-18 SIA helped fund the Actors From the London Stage’s visiting production of Measure for Measure, and donated scholarship money to the Shakespeare in England study abroad course. In Fall 2018, the Department of Theatre presented Twelfth Night, directed by Dr. Hartley and in Fall 2021 produced the audio play, The Corona Caesar, adapted and directed by Dr. Hartley.

During the 2022 Spring semester, prior to retiring from UNC Charlotte, Dr. Hartley organized “Shakespeare and Inclusivity: a semester-long case study of The Merchant of Venice.” The project included lectures, public readings, a workshop, a film screening, and a study tour to Washington, D.C.