Arts Agenda - Bed down with the Bard

Since when did local theater become an endurance test?

Last fall, Theatre Emory staged the seven-hour epic Back to Methuselah, while PushPush opens its new season with Peer Gynt, a play so long it’s staged over two nights. Then there are the “24 Hour Plays,” an event presented by Synchronicity and Plain Sight Productions in which a half-dozen plays are written, rehearsed and performed all in a day.

Perhaps the trend started with Soul-stice Repertory Ensemble’s Bard-A-Thon, an annual fund-raising event launched six years ago, where actors read from a selection of Shakespeare for 10 straight hours. This year’s event will be held Aug. 19 from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. at Art Farm in Cabbagetown.

In addition to local Shakespearean actors, the event features celebrity guests including 99X DJ and programmer Chris Williams, Theatre Gael Artistic Director John Gael and Atlanta Thrashers announcer Carl Christie. Among the works to be read are Macbeth, Henry IV Part 1, Twelfth Night, Coriolanus, Venus & Adonis, The Tempest, All’s Well That Ends Well and Titus Andronicus.

Nourishment will be provided throughout the day in the form of meals, snacks and beverages, but bring your own seat cushion if you plan to stay all day.

Soul-stice Repertory Ensemble presents the sixth annual Bard-A-Thon Aug. 19 from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. at Art Farm, 835 Wylie Ave., Cabbagetown. $5. 770-591-3036. soulsticerep@mindspring.com.??