Round 1

Jonathan Broadbent is based in London and has performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre of Great Britain and London’s Gate Theatre. Mr. Broadbent’s host theatre for the Fox Fellowship is the Bristol Old Vic Theatre (Bristol, England). The fellowship will allow Mr. Broadbent to continue his voice training and develop his Shakespearean repertoire, culminating with the portrayal of Orlando in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, directed by the Bristol Old Vic Theatre’s artistic leader, Simon Reade. While in residence, Mr. Broadbent will develop his adaptation of The Late Mr. Shakpeseare, by Robert Nye and serve as liaison between the theatre’s administrative staff and the new, full-time resident acting company.

Juan Rivera Lebron’s Fox Fellowship will focus on vocal and text analysis. He will study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona and locations throughout Spain. His studies will include an exploration of the similarities and differences in approaching Shakespearean text, and Spanish classical text in its original language. Mr. Lebron will subsequently offer classes and workshops for the company members and staff of the Fox host theatre, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Ashland, OR), and help develop bilingual curriculum that will focus on Shakespeare and Spanish classical texts in conjunction with the theatre’s education department.

In 2006-2007, Academy Award-winner F. Murray Abraham will play in rotating repertory Shylock in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, directed by Darko Tresnjak, and Barabas in The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe, directed by David Herskovits, both to be produced by Theatre for a New Audience (New York, NY). The Merchant of Venice will subsequently tour to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon to be presented in the RSC's Complete Works Festival. Mr. Abraham, who has acted in over 80 films and 90 plays and was last seen Off Broadway in Trumbo: Red, White and Blacklisted, has been awarded funding that will provide time to prepare for the rigors of repertory performance, including training with internationally acknowledged voice expert Cicely Berry.

Karen Kandel’s acting credits include international tours of productions directed by Ong Ken Sen, JoAnne Akalaitis, Lee Breuer and Peter Sellars. She will study Noh theatre in Japan, improvisational vocal techniques (both Eastern and Western Classical), dance training in Paris and clown and mime training in New York. She is a longtime collaborator of the host theatre, Mabou Mines (New York, NY) and will, with other artists, develop a new piece for the theatre through open work sessions, readings, presentations and residencies.

Joan Schirle has received a Fox Fellowship with Dell'Arte International (Blue Lake, CA), a thirty-year-old, internationally recognized touring ensemble and school, of which she is a co-founder. Her Fox Fellowship work will primarily focus on vocal training. She will study in France with members of the Roy Hart Theatre, at the Banff Center with Richard Armstrong and in New York with Catherine Fitzmaurice and others. Upon completion of her studies, she will lead workshops with Dell’Arte company members. Dell’Arte has also committed to develop one of two projects which will feature Ms. Schirle.

Andrew Weems received a Fox Fellowship with the Intiman Theatre (Seattle, WA). His acting credits include roles on Broadway, with Theatre for New Audience (including at the Royal Shakespeare Company), New York Theatre Workshop and at major regional theatres throughout the U.S. He has worked frequently with director Bartlett Sher, including two productions at the Intiman, where Mr. Sher is artistic director. Mr. Weems will travel to Tamil Nadu, India to study at the Kattaikuttu Sangram and to Kerala, India to study at the Bhasabharathi Center. Upon his return to the U.S., he will continue to develop his play Namaste Man (Lost and Found in Kathmandu), an autobiographical piece based on his travels and his upbringing in Asia and Africa. Members of the Intiman Theatre’s artistic staff will collaborate with Mr. Weems on his play.