Ten actors of various ages and performing backgrounds \u2014 from seasoned professionals to enthusiastic workshop newcomers and including Haine\u2019s daughter Lilly [\u201cI forced my daughter \u2013 how disgusting is that?\u201d he said] \u2014 took the stage to showcase their work.<\/p>\n
![\"Heidi](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/HD.jpg\")
Heidi Dotimas performs Shakespeare\u2019s Sonnet 138. (Noah Perkins)<\/p>\n
The performance offered a mix of sonnets and soliloquies from some of Shakespeare\u2019s most celebrated plays, giving both the actors and the audience a chance to explore The Bard\u2019s timeless language and themes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe love of Shakespeare \u2014 that\u2019s what I want the audience to take away from the performance,\u201d Haine said.<\/p>\n
Before performing Sonnet 29, Andy Heil described it as \u201cthe Judi Dench sonnet \u2014 Woe is me, life\u2019s not what it\u2019s supposed to be,\u201d putting his own impassioned spin on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the antithesis of modern naturalistic acting,\u201d Haine said. \u201cThe thing about Shakespeare that is extraordinary is there is no subtext. With modern plays, the first thing the actors ask is, \u2018What is it that I am exploring?\u2019 Shakespeare provides that in the language. He is the first one who explored what a soliloquy is \u2014 a soliloquy is an actor onstage alone talking about their thoughts and sharing them with the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haine pointed to \u201cTo be or not to be\u201d from \u201cHamlet,\u201d performed that evening by Corey Pahanish, as an example.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019To be or not to be\u2019 is working through a problem that Hamlet wants the people in the audience to help him figure out. \u2026 That is a novelty with actors; you don\u2019t see that with Tennessee Williams. That\u2019s one of the attractions of Shakespeare [to actors] \u2014 it\u2019s so wide open.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TH.jpg\")
Tom Haine is the director of the Shakespeare Unfolded workshop and its \u201cShakespeare Extravaganza\u201d show. (Noah Perkins)<\/p>\n
Haine highlighted the adolescent love in \u201cRomeo and Juliet\u201d and the fear of dementia in \u201cKing Lear\u201d as examples of why Shakespeare has remained timeless.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason Shakespeare is always done for the last 400 or 500 years is he provides every point of the emotional journey that an individual has in life,\u201d he said. \u201cHis plays are like a series of poems \u2014 the density of language is hard to comprehend and turns people off, but once you get it, you will never find anything more creative or ingenious at exploring the intricacies of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The universality of Shakespeare\u2019s language was illustrated in Heil\u2019s performance of Sonnet 73.<\/p>\n
\u201cTom gave me this sonnet this week,\u201d Heil said. \u201cA high school friend just passed away fairly young. This sonnet imagines a beloved\u2019s love for him growing even stronger in the face of death. A beautiful concept.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heil\u2019s performance drew loud applause and frequent encouragement from Haine.<\/p>\n
Haine, a longtime attorney for the Border Patrol and U.S. attorney\u2019s office, first discovered Shakespearean acting three decades ago while taking a class with longtime Old Globe theater associate Jonathan McMurtry.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a Shakespeare expert,\u201d Haine said. \u201cHe turned me on to the genius of Shakespeare. It could be academics, where someone explores the language, but it has to be acting. You can\u2019t just read Shakespeare and think \u2018This is something I really love.\u2019 You have to see it and hear it in order to really appreciate the language.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dotimas, who has a background in musical theater, had heard of ActLiveNow from friends who had taken classes, but she went into the workshop with limited knowledge of Shakespeare.<\/p>\n
\u201cShakespeare feels a lot like ballet in the sense that you are learning a lot of the basics and this wonderful, beautiful prose,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was such a wonderful gift to have this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dotimas also performed \u201cThou art not holy to belie me so\u201d from \u201cKing John\u201d and said the passage resonated deeply with her own experiences of grief.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time I read it, I started sobbing because it was so reminiscent of my own experiences,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The evening\u2019s performers also included Laura Ganz-Holtan, Susan O\u2019Neil, Sam Hargrove, Mark Petrich, Laura Gracie and Rebecca Reisman.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe actors do extraordinary work,\u201d Haine said.<\/p>\n