Bard hits campus from `Underground'

Over dinner one night, Nigel Caplan and Akiva Fox decided that Penn needed some Shakespeare. And now, six weeks after the Underground Shakespeare Company first emerged, Caplan -- a student in the Graduate School of Education and director of the group's first show -- is in the Rooftop Lounge of High Rise East, with the snow whirling outside. Sixty students attended last Thursday's opening night performance of Twelfth Night (or What You Will), a two-hour play performed by new and experienced graduate and undergraduate student actors. "We looked around and nobody was doing Shakespeare on a campus like Penn, and we wanted to do something different and do it well," Caplan said. Fox, a College junior, was the show's producer and the character Malvolio. He added that he and Caplan were sick of "over-rehearsed, bureaucratic and unenjoyable shows" that seemed to strip the energy from the text. Fox and Caplan said that they found their energy both in Shakespeare's untempered Folio edition of the play and in the commitment and the enthusiasm of the group. "Starting out of nothing is challenging, and we made a concerted effort to start with a small-cast show," said Fox, whose character elicited many laughs during the play. The 20-member company of "players" -- a group identification taken from Hamlet -- adheres strongly to English theater tradition. At Cambridge University, where Caplan spent his undergraduate days, more than seven plays are usually performed each week. There are "more than one can see," Caplan said, calling it shoestring theater that offers something for everyone. According to Caplan, the Underground Shakespeare Company includes no committee or "caste system," unlike most theater groups. Cello players painted the set and main characters designed costumes. "Everyone chipped in where it was needed," said Jamie Davis, a Veterinary School student who played Curio. The team effort included advertising on Locust Walk, which attracted College sophomore Tom Lay to the show. "I saw the advertisement and didn't have anything else to do," Lay said. "I'm very impressed with the production, and I like the production style." The casual atmosphere of the rooftop lounge attracted both friends and newcomers to Shakespeare to the group's Twelfth Night. "I haven't seen a Shakespeare show ever," College junior Suzie Richter said. "I could never imagine seeing a play in this lounge. It's a great place to see the show because I could see everything going on." Caplan said the company adheres to Shakespeare's adage, "It is better to be a witty fool than a foolish wit." "This is the principle of my company," Caplan said. "It is better to laugh and not take yourself too seriously then to be clever and act pompous and make a fool of yourself."