Kevin Kern gears up for Shakespeare event at Castle

Kevin Kern exudes enthusiasm.

Get the associate professor of theater at the University of Mount Union to talk about his craft, and you can feel his passion. Get him to talk about Shakespeare at the Castle, a professional theater company he helped to conceive in which he continues to serve as the artistic director, and that fervor grows.

“This has been one of the greatest joys of my life,” said the father of three, who added Shakespeare at the Castle has become like his fourth child. “It has been a remarkable experience.”

During a recent meeting of the Alliance Rotary Club, Kern revealed that the theater company will present “Hamlet” on Aug. 4-7 at Glamorgan Castle in conjunction with the Greater Alliance Carnation Festival.

During his talk, Kern first gave Rotarians a tongue-in-cheek lesson on why he believes William Shakespeare may be overrated as a writer but underappreciated as an entrepreneur.

A Lesson in Shakespeare

“In my opinion, Shakespeare has been put on a pedestal for all the wrong reasons,” said Kern. “I don’t think he was as hot of an author as everybody thinks he was, and to that end, I believe that if he were alive today, he would most likely fail any English class he was in, but he would probably ace a business class.”

Kern listed four reasons Shakespeare would fail an English class – plagiarism, improper grammar, incorrect spelling and using too many dirty jokes.

Shakespeare was guilty on all counts.

His first play, “Comedy of Errors,” was stolen from a Roman comedy. “Romeo and Juliet,” perhaps his most famous play, and “Macbeth” also were stolen from somebody else.

Kern gave several examples of improper grammar, including words that Shakespeare simply made up, and misspellings, including his own last name, which he would spell three different ways.

“So we have all of these things put together and then we get this,” continued Kern, a graduate of California Lutheran University and Brandeis University. “The man seemed to be obsessed with dirty jokes and bodily fluids.”

Those traits sound more like a juvenile boy rather than someone who would be considered a great author, said Kern, who noted that Shakespeare really shined in the business world, though.

“He did some things in the business world that make a lot of sense,” Kern said as he explained theater companies in Shakespeare’s day needed a steady stream of material to make money.

“The more plays you could get onto the stage, the more chance you had of making money,” continued Kern.

Shakespeare happened to be perfect for this, as he was a prolific writer, penning 17 comedies, 10 tragedies, 11 or 12 histories (depending on what sources you believe) as well as 154 sonnets – all in a span of 24 years.

In comparison, Neil Simon (1927-2018), one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century, known for “The Odd Couple,” “Biloxi Blues” and “Lost in Yonkers,” wrote 34 plays in a span of 43 years.

Shakespeare was also a master at yield management and peak pricing, charging more for premium seats, such as the balcony, inside his famous Globe Theatre. He also sold space on the floor where there were no chairs, but patrons, known as groundlings, could stand and watch the play.

“Those people couldn’t afford to sit, but Shakespeare knew he could squeeze a few more shillings out them, so he crammed as many people into different seats in the theater,” said Kern.

Shakespeare also knew his customer base very well and catered to that, explained Kern.

“He knew there were nobility and royalty in his audience,” continued Kern. “So he wrote plays having to do with the troubles and travails with being in charge like the histories and some of the tragedies about royalty. He also had the merchant class and they loved music. That was the pastime of the time, so he always had songs and music in his plays. And finally, the groundlings, those that stood there, that’s where the potty talk came in because they loved to hear those baudy jokes.”

Shakespeare was also good at finding venture capital, noted Kern, explaining that Shakespeare got paid to write his plays, including the histories. To that end, he would manipulate and embellish the stories to make the subjects seem either better or worse, depending on the taste of the person who was paying him.

“I think it’s time we place Shakespeare on a pedestal for the right reasons,” Kern joked as he concluded the entertaining lecture.

Back to the Castle

Kern certainly will place Shakespeare front and center again this summer as “Hamlet” will be Shakespeare at the Castle’s ninth production.

Kern noted that “Hamlet” is Shakespeare’s longest play, but the version that will be staged will run no longer tha two hours, with the play starting at 7 p.m. each night.

“Hamlet” is also The Bard’s most performed play and has been translated into many different languages, including Klingon, according to Kern, who noted that the famous line “To be or not to be” is “yln pagh ylnbe” in that language from “Star Trek.”

Shakespeare at the Castle, which is comprised mostly of professional actors from all across the country, receives support from the Greater Alliance Foundation, the Stark Community Foundation, ArtsinStark, and several other donations from businesses and private donors. That support allows ticket prices to remain relatively low, explained Kern, who thanked all those who help make the productions possible as the mission of Shakespeare at the Castle is to serve Alliance and bring professional theater to the community.

The theater company also relies on cooperation from the Alliance City Schools to be able to stage the plays at Glamorgan Castle.

Kern noted that each production of Shakespeare at the Castle costs $22,000 to $25,000, which includes all technical elements and salaries for actors, who come to Alliance with all of their lines memorized and rehearse for about 1.5 weeks before performances start. About half of that cost is generated through ticket sales and the other half is raised through donations.

“Theater is a terrible business model,” said Kern. “It’s not like the movies where you film it and then show it as much as you like at relatively no cost. For theater, it costs every time you put on the production. So we purposely keep ticket prices low, hoping that and knowing that there are good people who have supported us in the past and have given a little extra so that as many people can come see these productions as possible.”

Tickets, which are on sale now, range from $5 to $20 and can be obtained by visiting mountunion.edu/box-office.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Kevin Kern gears up for Shakespeare event at Glamorgan Castle