About the Presenters

Learn more about each and every speaker that will be joining us for our Shakespeare-filled weekend:

Keynote Speaker, Marjorie Garber: Ms. Garber received her B.A. from Harvard in 1966 and her Ph.D. from Yale in 1969. A former director of Harvard’s Humanities Center and the president of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes, she is now a professor of English and Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University. Ms. Garber has written a variety of books and essays, with topics ranging from literary theory to aspects of popular and university culture. Some of her most notable works were written on Shakespeare, with the triumphant Shakespeare After All - based on her lectures at Yale and Harvard - chosen by Newsweek as one of the five best nonfiction books of 2004, and was also awarded the 2005 Christian Gauss Book Award from Phi Beta Kappa. Another of her works, Patronizing the Arts, argues the importance of the arts and culture in education today. Shakespeare and Modern Culture is centered on how Shakespeare fits into today’s culture and society, and vice versa. Recently Ms. Garber has been working on a collection of essays based on the humanities and has published Shakespeare’s Ghost Writers: Literature as Uncanny Causality in 2010 and her most recent boo, Loaded Words, released in June of 2012. Over the years she has continued to teach courses on Shakespeare and on culture in the department of English and American Literature and Language.

Jay Halio, a professor of English at the Universtiy of Delaware, will speak on the elements of comedy and tragedy found in Shakespeare’s works. As a current member of the Academic Council of the Globe Theatre Center and author of books 'No Clock in the Forest': Time in As You Like It and Anxiety in Othello, Dr. Halio is sure to bring a variety of unique insights and ideas to his session.

Heather Dubrow has been a professor of English at both Fordham University and UW- Madison, and is the author of Genre and Captive Victors: Shakespeare's Narrative Poems and Sonnets. As a seasoned expert, she will be joining us to discuss Shakespeare's sonnets. Her insight on the uses and abuses of power and language, tied in with hand-selected sonnets, will inform and captivate.

Lois Potter, an author and professor of English at the University of Delaware, will be joining us Shakespearience weekend to discuss her acclaimed book, The Life of William Shakespeare. She will delve into his life and works, focusing on the literary and historical contexts. You will be enlightened on what Shakespeare read, who he worked with, and how these collaborations affected his writing.

Curt L. Tofteland is the Founder of the internationally acclaimed "Shakespeare Behind Bars", a program that gives inmates an opportunity to perform Shakespearian works. He will be joining us for Shakespearience to allow us a deeper, more personal look at his work and experiences in these prisons. Toftland’s program has also been chronicled in the multi-award winning documentary, Shakespeare Behind Bars which premièred at Sundance in 2005. Described as extraordinary and complex, we will be offering a free screening of this film to kick off your weekend.

Susan Sweeney, APT’s Head of Voice and Text, will broaden our knowledge on this art. As a 30-year veteran of the practice, Susan has worked with a multitude of actors from theaters across the nation including Utah Shakespeare festivals, the Guthrie Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and Broadway's Jujamcyn Theatres. For Shakespearience she will provide you an inside look at years of Voice and Text experience.

Matt Schwader, a member of APT's Core Acting Company, will share with us his work with the program Shakespeare Link. Returning from a recent trip to Mozambique, Africa Matt has been working with an organization that is dedicated to using the works of Shakespeare to make the world a better place. In Africa, Mr. Shwader along with Shakespeare Link, worked with local dance and music groups so they could share the heart wrenching messages of AIDS, gender relations, and more. Mr. Schwader will be joining us to give us a more in depth look at what he has been able to do.