Biddy Wells was a serious dance student before the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art accepted her. She also plays the piano and trumpet, has a three-octave singing range is certified in stage fighting and fencing.
"As an actress in England you have to be able to do a lot of things," she says.
Wells is one of five talented actors and actresses who, as members of the Shakespearean troupe called ACTER, will spend the next week in a residency at Southeast Missouri State University. They will teach classes, conduct workshops for students and members of the public alike, give dramatic readings and stage three performances of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." (See schedule)
ACTER is based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but all the actors and actresses are English.
The company draws from the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, the BBC Shakespeare Series and other major English theaters. Patrick Stewart, best known in the U.S. as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in the "Next Generation" Star Trek TV series, helped found the group more than 20 years ago.
Each person plays a number of roles in the sparely designed productions they take on tour.
Wells will play Helena, Hippolyta, Quince and First Fairy in the production. The other ACTER members who will be here are David Acton (Puck, Theseus, Snout), Peter Forbes (Bottom, Demetrius, Egeus, Second Fairy), Henrietta Bess (Hermia, Titania, Snug, Philostrate) and Peter Lindford (Oberon, Lysander, Flute).
Acton has been an actor for more than 20 years. From time to time he's had doubts about pursuing the profession, he admits, as have his parents.
"They've got used to it now. I was about 30 the last time my father said to me, Isn't it about time you've got a proper job?"
The nature of the business is to be in and out of work, but that's also part of its allure for him. "Not knowing what is going to happen next is very exciting," he says. "As an actor you can end up anywhere in the world."
ACTER stands for A Center for Theatre, Education and Research. Its goal is to change the way Shakespeare is taught in America by emphasizing the work's origins as a working script.
Teaching is an essential part of what ACTER does when it goes to a college campus, even though none of the actors and actresses has any teaching experience.
"We're there to try and pass on how we approach plays and acting," Acton says. "It's not an academic approach. We upset the apple cart to try and see it from a completely different perspective."
ACTER's visit is sponsored by the English and theater departments at Southeast.
While here, the actors and actresses will conduct one workshop aimed at helping anyone sharpen their skill with spoken language. Another workshop is for anyone who wants to use their bodies more effectively.
Three more workshops are aimed at teaching Shakespeare to different levels of students. In addition, Lindford will give a reading of the work of poet Philip Larkin, and Wells and Acton will present "Beyond the grave: a Selection of Ghosts in Stories, Poems and Epitaphs."
Wells and Lindford are on their second tour. Everyone else is a newcomer.
The troupe is in Riverton, Wyo., this week on at outreach tour of the state. The nine-week tour of the U.S. also has taken them to Notre Dame University, and they'll finish in Albany, N.Y.
Each Monday they fly to a new place in the U.S. "Everywhere is so different," Acton says. "It's like going to a different country."
Wells calls ACTER "a real hard job. You're working and teaching and going through a rehearsal period that lasts five weeks with five people you probably don't know."
But she may have been born for this life. "I think I like the attention," she says.
ACTER schedule
Tuesday
-- Actors teach five classes beginning at 9:30 a.m.
-- "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Rose Theatre, 8 p.m.. $10 general, $8 faculty, staff and seniors, $6 students.
Wednesday
-- "Trippingly on the Tongue," Common Hour workshop, University Center Ballroom.
-- "Speaking with the Body," Parker Dance Studio.
-- Peter Lindford presents "The Poetry of Philip Larkin: The Poems of a Very Private Man," 8 p.m., Rose Theatre. Free.
Thursday, Feb. 26
-- Biddy Wells and David Acton present "Beyond the Grave: A Selection of Ghosts in Stories, Poems and Epitaphs." Free.
Friday, Feb. 27
-- Actors teach five classes.
-- "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Rose Theatre, 8 p.m. $10 general, $8 faculty, staff and seniors, $6 students.
Saturday, Feb. 28
-- "On Your feet with Shakespeare," workshop for secondary and college students, University Center Ballroom, 10 a.m.
-- "Teaching Through Performance," workshop for teachers, Missouriana Room, University Center, 10 a.m.
-- "Having Fun with Shakespeare," workshop for middle-school teachers and students, 10 a.m.
-- "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Rose Theatre, 8 p.m. $10 general, $8 faculty, staff and seniors, $6 students.
Connect with the Southeast Missourian Newsroom:
For corrections to this story or other insights for the editor, click here. To submit a letter to the editor, click here. To learn about the Southeast Missourian’s AI Policy, click here.