American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriars Playhouse — Attraction in Staunton

"An inequitable treatment of an eighty-year-old senior, a stroke survivor suffering from a severe case of neuropathy and recovering from a serious neck surgery" We had the misfortune of dealing with the incomprehensibly rude and callous attitude of two staff members at the ASC. When we arrived there, we discovered that our seats did not have any back rests (balcony row JJ). This information is not easily accessible, nor is it indicated on the seat diagram provided on the ticket booking webpage. Not surprisingly, several other spectators from the same row were as unpleasantly surprised as we were. However, since we had been loyal patrons of the ASC for a long time, we were determined to make things work even though my husband had serious neck surgery a couple of months prior to that theater visit. We asked an usher for cushions, and when my husband got his, he slid back on the floor and leaned against the empty bench behind him, for his neck started hurting several minutes into the performance, about which I notified the usher. We patiently waited until intermission in order not to ruin the other spectators’ experience, but after the first act, my husband approached the usher to express his need to move to the upper row, where all seats were vacant and had back support, to mitigate the increasing neck and back pain. I thought that the issue would be resolved easily based on our past favorable experiences with the ASC staff, so I went to the restroom. Upon my return, I saw my husband sitting in a seat in the upper row, so I asked him if permission to do so was granted, and he confirmed it. However, it was not facilitated by the usher, who got confrontational with him. He had to talk to the House Manager on duty, who was on the first floor, and he had to take several flights of stairs to get there, suffering from a severe pain in his neck and imbalance caused by his neuropathy. I was not aware of all this because I was in the restroom, not expecting the usher to send him down because we had informed her about his recent neck surgery and pain several times. By the time we were seated in our new seats, we saw another couple move up, who also got permission to do so. While we were chatting with them, the House manager on duty suddenly stormed into our aisle with an angry expression on her face and gave us an ultimatum in a raised tone of voice either to move down to our original seats or to leave the theater. I was shocked by both this statement and the aggressive manner it was delivered in since several minutes prior to this, my husband did get her permission to move to the upper row of seats. As it transpired later, she expected him to confirm our decision about switching our seats by making it back downstairs within 2 minutes, which would have been an unreasonable expectation and an athletic feat even for a young healthy person, let alone an eighty-year-old senior who has had a neck surgery recently and has several physical infirmities, including but not limited to severe neuropathy, high blood pressure, partial numbness in his limbs due to a stroke, and some other health problems. He simply had trouble getting out of his seat and was slightly delayed by the conversation with the young couple seated next to us. The Tragedy of Errors on the part of the two staff members would have been easily avoided had the House manager on duty politely and calmly asked us for our confirmation instead of embarrassing us in front of other people. To give credit to the new executive director, with whom we requested to meet, she lent a compassionate ear to our explanations and issued a refund for the tickets. However, by the time we met with her, our theater experience was “brutally butchered” just like Julius Caesar on the stage several minutes before, and we decided to leave. It is with deep sadness that we are withdrawing our patronage from the theater, but we hope that the Blackfriars Shakespeare Center will really become an equity theater, not just in word but also in deed (and not just for actors but also for...

My wife and I have been long time (15 years) fans and patrons of the ASC, and, as such, have reveled in the robust program and personnel highlights, agonized through the pandemic and internal upheaval, (still mourning the loss of some long tenured and topflight actors) and re-engaged with some real doubt and trepidation this past summer.

Having now seen 12th Night, Passover and last night's Pericles I can say with certain confidence that the ASC is back, strong and vibrant again. There are some obvious cast, program and culture changes that may be hits or misses depending on any one spectator's history, experience and expectations; but the product onstage has been magnificent, and I would urge all who might have forsaken the theater to return and give it another chance...or two! There is energy, passion, humor, and fun again.

They made Pericles, a somewhat obscure collaboration between Shakespeare and George Wilkins, come alive with real vim and vigor. Music, acting staging and costumes all conspired to offer a most watchable and engaging experience. This rather archaic show, a tale of loss, rediscovery, deceit, parental and filial devotion, and sea travel was made to come alive and literally jump off the stage. It had humor, tragedy, music, wit and surprises. We found it delightful to welcome back some "old" faces and watch them blend with the new talent and personalities. I'd be hard-pressed to single out any single performances. Virtually all the leads were magnificent, but the real joy was in the ensemble nature of the production. This show was actor directed as part of their Renaissance season, and their involvement and dedication to the craft and this play were evident.

Pericles and the ASC are worthy of your time, attention and money and we relish all that is yet to...

Twelfth Night opening tonight was the worst performance I’ve ever seen in my life, by a lot. Having been to ASC over 20 times pre-Covid and having spent 10 years living in big cities, I have spent a lot of time in theaters. ASC was exceptionally bad in almost every way. Performing to a 2/3rds empty theatre, the ENTITE cast was terribly unlikable. To be a good show, don’t we need at least 1 likable person? The character formation was so bad that I still didn’t know who was whom by the intermission. ASC has become just a room with 4 walls and no soul. The amount of negative energy from the cast was astounding. In all 20 of my prior visits there was a fun and lively cast that interacted with the audience making sure they were having fun. This time the cast couldn’t even muster up a genuine smile to end the show. The beauty of ASC is that they tend to make Shakespeare approachable for the masses. This show was more about gender roles than it was about Shakespeare. But everybody was there for the Shakespeare! To make matters worse, the staff was consistently rude to everyone (I didn’t see even 1 hospitable interaction with the exception of the bartender upstairs). One staff member even demanded that an elderly man put his mask over his nose while he was obviously focused on adjusting his hearing aid. I’m embarrassed for recommending ASC to so many people and disappointed that Staunton’s main theatre has completely lost its luster. I hate to say it having grown up in Staunton but I wouldn’t expect this theatre to last another year. And it doesn’t deserve to. It has become a place that stands to serve the actors rather than...