CHESTER - CTC will present a series of Pre-Show talks by eminent professors from Pioneer Valley area colleges in conjunction with its 2011 "Classic Stories/Contemporary Voices" season. Talks are set for Friday July 8, July 22 and August 19 at 7:00pm at CTC's Town Hall Auditorium. There is no admission charge.

"The treasures of our literary heritage continue to inspire the writers of today," according to CTC Artistic Director Byam Stevens, "so we're presenting a season of classic works re-imagined by contemporary American playwrights. Our audience will get something familiar -- masterpieces by Dostoyevsky, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Henry James, Christopher Marlowe -- and something new -- exciting, fresh renderings from today's best writers."

Brad Sullivan

pride@prejudice - Preshow Talk at 7:00PM, July 8 - Brad Sullivan 

Brad Sullivan is Professor of English at Western New England University. His primary interest has always been knowing and learning -- how we do it, how we can facilitate it, how literary encounters may accomplish it, particularly in the early romantic models.  His first book, Wordsworth and the Composition of Knowledge: Refiguring Relationships Among Minds, Worlds, and Words (2000) has been well-reviewed and well-received. He is currently at work on a new book-length project tentatively entitled Artful Knowing: British Romanticism, Cognitive Science, and the Practice of Learning.

Harley Erdman

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT - Preshow Talk at 7:00PM, July 22 - Harley Erdman

Harley Erdman is Associate Professor of Theater at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has published numerous articles on the history of Jewish representation on the American stage, as well as the book Staging the Jew.  His commissioned work as a translator of contemporary Latin American theater includes Guillermo Calderón's December, Concepción León Mora's Mestiza Power, and Arístides Vargas' Rigoberta's House Faces South. He has also translated Spanish Golden Age plays by Calderón, Lope de Vega and Tirso de Molina.  His translations of Tirso's Jealous of Herself and Marta the Divine will soon be published by Aris & Phillips. He is a winner of the Outstanding Teacher Award from the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. Additionally, he has taught classes on adaptation for the stage.

Rebecca Lartigue

WITTENBERG - Preshow Talk at 7:00PM, August 19 - Rebecca Lartigue

Rebecca Lartigue is Associate Professor of English at Springfield College, where she teaches courses in composition and literature.  She shares her love of early English literature and language in classes such as Renaissance Literature, Chaucer and the Middle Ages, and History of the English Language.  Her research interests include medieval literature and languages, especially the works of Boccaccio and Chaucer; medieval approaches to literary interpretation; and frame narratives.