{"id":155743,"date":"2024-06-02T20:11:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T00:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/rwddev\/?p=155743"},"modified":"2024-06-02T20:11:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T00:11:36","slug":"loving-shakespeare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/loving-shakespeare\/","title":{"rendered":"Sound and sight: William Colgate – Learning to Love Shakespeare"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cAll the world\u2019s a stage,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And all the men and women merely players;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have their exits and their entrances;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And one man in his time plays many parts<\/em>,\u201d As You Like It- William Shakespeare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the years we’ve done everything, theater, film, television, cartoon voice work, commercial voice. If you’re a Canadian actor, you’ve got to do everything\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So began a laughter-filled, energetically engaging conversation with actor William Colgate and his wife, director Joan Bendon, on a balmy April afternoon by the Baysville Narrows in Baysville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I was in a band out of high school. You know, the usual cover band playing the bars and things like that. And then, I’d also acted in high school. So, there came kind of a divergence. I didn’t want to be playing in bars anymore and a gentleman we knew in common was starting a theatre company and that’s where we met within the theatre company. And so, since that time, which was like 1976, we’ve been, you know, primarily been acting… but I never lost the itch for singing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

William Colgate initially came to my attention many years ago as a songwriter named Bill Colgate. So, it came as a rather pleasant surprise to find out that his primary career focus is acting. On June 12(2 pm), 13(7 pm), and 14 (2 pm), 2024, William Colgate will star in \u201cShakespeare: A Rarest Vision OR How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bard\u201d at Pioneer Memorial Hall, 2370 Hwy 60, Lake of Bays. Tickets are available via etransfer by emailing downbythebayslob@gmail.com<\/a> or visiting https:\/\/muskokaplayers.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William\u2019s conversion from a \u201cShakesphobe to Shakesphile\u201d came during the COVID lockdowns, with William remembering that famed actor Ian McKellen had debuted a one-man show \u201cActing Shakespeare,\u201d in 1980. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was a great show. And I wonder if it’s on YouTube, everything else is on YouTube. And I went and yes, it was on there. So, I’m watching it and it’s great. It’s Ian McKellen, a terrific actor. But he kept going on about… oh, I love Shakespeare since I was a little boy and I used to make sets myself. Then we went to Cambridge and we just loved it and we did this, that, and the other, and blah, blah, blah. And I’m sitting there going, that was not my experience of Shakespeare. My experience of Shakespeare was the Ontario Secondary School System, which is basically, here’s your Penguin copy, a Romeo and Juliet. Answer the questions on the test and then you wonder why nobody likes Shakespeare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“So that was it, I call it, in some of my promo blurb stuff, I say, if you suffer from PTSD for post-traumatic secondary school Shakespeare syndrome, come and see my show, it addresses that,\u201d William explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn’t write the show to preach to the choir; I wrote it to people like myself, who skip choir practice and we’re out behind the church smoking a cigarette, and it’s been really successful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shakespeare is perhaps the most celebrated British writer in English literature and certainly the best-known writer from the Early Modern Period. Of course, many high school students find his work impenetrable. Despite the challenges Shakespeare poses for students, his plays and sonnets remain a cornerstone of literary culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

William suggests Shakespeare\u2019s success was due to his professional life as an actor. \u201cHe was a working actor. Let’s start with the facts. And working actors always need to have a certain amount of self-examination and philosophical thoughts. So, there’s a certain amount of [that], and he had bills to pay, and he had more money if he wrote some plays. So, it’s probably very practical as well. Just turned out he had quite a talent for it. Obviously. He’s a genius\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In writing this play, William Colgate\u2019s goal was to introduce audiences to a renewed perception of what he believes the great poet intended, to entertain, inspire and inform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cogate has acted in a wide variety of productions, often touring across Canada. His two most recent performances include Norm Foster\u2019s \u2018The Gentleman\u2019s Clothier\u2019 at the Orillia Opera House and \u2018Billy Bishop Goes to War,\u2019 the famed Canadian play for Dot-the T\u2019s touring production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William Colgate Actor\u2019s Reel  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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