The University Record, January 9, 1996
Colm Feore in residence at Humanities Institute
By Mary Price
Institute for the Humanities
Colm Feore, long-time star of productions at the Stratford Festival Theatre in Ontario and recently star of the award-winning Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould, will be at the Institute for the Humanities for a three-day residency late this week.
Dramatizing this year’s Institute theme—emotion—Feore will use several occasions to reveal how an actor works with emotion to create a role. His visit will begin with a public showing of Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould at the Michigan Theater (admission charged) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 11). He will give a lecture/demonstration of his craft at 8 p.m. Friday (Jan. 12) in the Mendelssohn Theater, drawing on his experience with this film.
Generous with his time in this short visit, he will treat University and general audiences to two informal sessions at the Institute during his stay. He will engage in an interview-style discussion with Leigh Woods, professor of drama studies, at 1:00 p.m. Friday (Jan. 12), and will talk with students and others in an open session moderated by Erik Fredriksen, chair of the theater department, at 10:30 a.m. Saturday (Jan. 13) in the Osterman Common Room, 1524 Rackham Building.
His residency is supported by funds for the Jill Harris Memorial Performance, an annual presentation of the Institute for the Humanities.
Feore has gained numerous plaudits and awards during his stage and film career. Like most Stratford actors, he uses extensive physical and vocal training to transform all of his human dimensions for a performance, underlining the difference between a Hollywood personality and an actor who moves the audience. Ann Arbor playgoers will remember his dramatic entrance on the stage of the Power Center as Oberon in Stratford’s performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Stratford theater-goers will have seen him during his 13-year career there in roles as varied as Cyrano, the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance, and earlier work as Richard III, Petruchio (The Taming of the Shrew), and Edmund Tyrone (Long Day’s Journey Into Night). Turning recently to film and television, he has just finished work on a film for Sidney Lumet, to be released this summer.
Institute director James A. Winn notes that “the Institute for the Humanities is pleased to bring Colm Feore to add to the year’s discussion of emotion. Drawing on the interdisciplinary depth of University schools and departments as well as the Michigan Theater, this winter term opening visit promises to spark lively and entertaining discussions for audiences within and outside the University.”
For further information, check the calendar in this issue or call the Institute, 936-3518.
