Book and study clubs prepare audiences for performances

Be among those in the know by attending the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) study and book clubs sponsored by the Ann Arbor District Library, the University Musical Society (UMS), the Center for South Asian Studies and Shaman Drum Bookshop.

Alison Fiske as Volumnia in "Coriolanus," one of the plays the Royal Shakespeare Company will perform during its U-M residency. (Photo courtesy Manuel Harlan)

Sessions are designed to educate audiences about the plots and themes of the upcoming productions of the stage adaptation of Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" and Shakespeare's "Coriolanus" and "Merry Wives of Windsor." Reading the play or book prior to attending the sessions is suggested but not required.

Study Club sessions are free and will take place in the Ann Arbor District Library's multi-purpose room in the basement level of the library, 343 S. Fifth Ave.

"Midnight's Children"

The RSC Book Club will meet for four free sessions on "Midnight's Children." The first session is 7-8:30 p.m. Feb. 3 at the library. English Lecturer Sadia Abbas will present "History, Family and the Body Politic in 'Midnight's Children.'"

The second session will meet 7-8:30 p.m. Feb. 5 at Shaman Drum, 311-315 S. State St. Graduate students Rahul Sinha and Sejal Sutaria will lead the discussion.

The third session will meet 7-8:30 p.m. Feb. 17 at the library for a presentation by Abbas on "Love and Language in 'Midnight's Children.'"

The fourth session will be 7-8:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at Shaman Drum. Sinha and Sutaria will lead a discussion of the book.

"Coriolanus"

The RSC Study Club session for "Coriolanus" will meet 7-8:30 p.m. Feb. 11. The session will be led by English Prof. Linda Gregerson and will examine issues including the tensions between military and political culture, patriotism and popular esteem, exile and belonging, and familial allegiance and the cult of heroism.

"Merry Wives of Windsor"

The RSC Study Club session for "Merry Wives of Windsor" will meet 7-8:30 p.m. Feb. 13. Theater and Drama Associate Prof. John Neville-Andrews will lead participants in exploring how the comedy, characters and plot of the play are derived from class distinction, civility and incivility, money, insiders and outsiders, wealth, women's revenge, acceptance and non-acceptance, amorous desire, cross-dressing, and the obsession with wealth and money.

For more information, visit http://www.umich.edu/pres/rsc.

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