Guest Artist Matt Radford returns to direct "Twelfth Night"

Matthew Radford returns to the Pridemore Playhouse. The guest artist who portrayed Theseus/Oberon in the RU 2003 production of “A Midsummer Night's Dream” is the Department of Theatre and Cinema’s guest director for April 2015’s “Twelfth Night.”

“The students can expect from me a rigorous approach to text, and they will initially be drilled in scansion and rhetorical figures,” Radford said. “Rather than fusty or musty, this approach unlocks Shakespeare’s embedded stage directions and allows actors to make strong and empowered choices.”

His extensive background in Shakespearian theatre makes him an ideal candidate for a guest director.

“This is a great opportunity for our students to work with a director outside the three on faculty,” said Wesley Young, associate professor of Theatre. “A student who is cast consistently could stand to work with a variety of directors during their time here.”

In 2003, Radford was a professional actor in the UK, touring the United States with the Actors From The London Stage Company.

The RU theatre department wanted to bring in a professional Shakespearean actor as a guest artist and contacted Radford’s theatre company for suggestions.

“The office quickly figured out that your town’s name is the same as mine and the rest, as they say, is history,” Radford mused.

A professional actor and director for 20 years, he is an assistant professor in the Master of Letters/Master of Fine Arts in Shakespeare and Performance at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton,Va.

When asked what the audience can anticipate for “Twelfth Night,” Radford discusses his preference for an empty space stage where subtle design and good storytelling are the key components.

“Twelfth Night” runs April 14-19. Tickets are available online at rutheatretickets.universitytickets.com.