Full Transcript for Episode 5: Announcing "A Canterbury Feast" – Allen Guy Wilcox of The Theatre at Woodshill

to have a lot of music, but I think yeah, Radiohead, Sigaross, um Philip Glass, Beethoven, I don't know. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:52.720 I just you know, especially in the digital age, you can kind of just keep things shuffling through all the things. 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:53.519 You really can. 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:54.560 You really can. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:06:00.000 That was a very cool broad cross-section of many genres of music. 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:04.399 Yeah, and I think they dovetail in funny ways, but maybe no doubt, no doubt. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:07.839 Um what's inspiring to you today? 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:09.600 Hmm. 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:15.279 Um finding synthesis between new technologies and old ancient wisdom. 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:18.480 Haha, we just kind of touched on that before, didn't we? 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:20.160 You kind of warmed me up for it. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:43.680 It's true, but I think that I've always uh held the the aspiration that technology doesn't have to be against nature or against wisdom, uh that it doesn't have to conflict in a kind of um Star Wars way where there's kind of you know this um good versus evil that there's some kind of way that these things mutually unfold and elaborate together in harmony. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:07:04.879 So I think people who are in those spaces of saying like uh we really care about um ancient folk wisdom, cooking, working with your hand, being in the soil while at the same time using um using technology to clarify problems and make life easier where it it could be just drudgery. 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:08.079 Um that's a problem that goes back to the industrial revolution. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:09.040 You know, people like to work. 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:17.120 We like to we like to we like to work, but we want to work for ourselves and for each other, for our community, and not for some nameless, I don't know. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:23.759 Well, you have a a way of translating what's inspiring to you to uh in in words very nicely. 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:28.560 Thank you for uh um humoring my my three question lightning around. 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:38.639 I think that was a a a great place to start and thank you for a little snapshot into uh you you know your your your life and day-to-day here. 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:53.839 So that is uh a great place to start and and um we've come to know each other um through your really remarkable uh not-for-profit here in the Mohawk Valley Theater at Woods Hill. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:59.040 Would you tell us a little bit about the theater? 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:04.560 Um where it started, where it is now. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:05.920 Yeah, thank you. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:07.920 Um it started in a barn. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:14.399 It started in a pasture, actually, but um I I grew up on my family's property. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:20.480 Um my grandma and grandpa Willis and and Florence um started a farm. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:21.279 Wilcox. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:24.079 Wilcox started a farm in in 1943. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:25.279 Willis Wilcox. 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:25.920 Yeah, Willis. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:31.600 Bill, grandpa Bill, yeah, Willis Willis Crouch, Wilcox and uh and Florence. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:42.559 Um and although my dad ended up becoming a physician, he and my mom stayed on the property, and so my siblings and I uh spent a lot of time there. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:47.039 And now uh since 2000, I've been back on the farm with my family living there full-time. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:48.159 So that's been great. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:09:05.919 Um, but when my sister got married in the barn in 2015, and so all of a sudden the barn again, after years of kind of sitting still, became a focal point for the family and uh in crossroads, if you will, between a bunch of our different interests, uh not just personal interests, although that was important. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:15.440 My interest in literature, uh, along with my brother, um, and my family's generalized interest in um community and and and agriculture. 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:27.919 Um and you know, and and then to top it all off, we have this farm, and and small farms in America need to figure out what their sense of purpose is because um, you know, small dairies don't exist like they used to. 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:28.960 Not getting any easier. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:30.159 Not getting any easier. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:45.120 Um and and so and you know, I always say this area, you you you drive down any of the big roads, you go down any of the back roads, you're gonna see the remnants of once beautiful barns that probably lost their mission or sense of purpose. 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:50.399 So it was really important to us to give the barn uh a new sense of purpose. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:57.919 So all these things kind of dovetailed together, and um and and and then the universe started opening doors, as my mom likes to say. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:00.159 So we started a nonprofit. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:14.799 Um I was living full-time in New York and coming up during the summers uh to make the theater, and you know, one thing that was kind of um important was was to to to aim high. 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:20.879 I I I thought I wanted to have a mechanism in my own life to go through the plays of William Shakespeare. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:23.600 There's no better way than to actually stage them and do them. 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:32.799 Um, you know, I always joke, like we we give a copy of Julius Caesar to a ninth grader and expect them to understand the full import and glory and context of it. 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:36.399 Sometimes that it works and sometimes it gets stiff-armed. 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:40.240 Um, but they're plays, they're entertainment, they're meant to be seen, they're meant to be staged. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:47.360 So we want to enjoy

that and let the the poetry and the music kind of flow over you and wash over you. 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:48.480 I think it's something important. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:51.919 I know I'm kind of jumping around, but that's something that's important with Shakespeare. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.720 Is sometimes we don't understand or pick up every word. 00:10:54.879 --> 00:11:00.799 Even the most practiced listeners don't understand or grok every single word unless they may be familiar with the text. 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:02.159 But we understand cadence. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:02.399 Yeah. 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:10.240 We understand tempo, we understand conveyance, and so these things kind of land on us even after 400 years, and that's I think really important. 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:12.480 Then we can go back and read them and study them. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:16.240 Now that we have a sense for the story and why the story matters to us and who these people are. 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:18.320 Oh, I I like that person, that person not so much. 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:19.039 Right, right, right. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:24.320 Um, we can get ourselves into the story, and then we can go back and and and really kind of dissect them. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:25.200 But they're entertainments. 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:38.720 Shakespeare owned a theatre company, uh, you know, he was a partial owner in the Globe Theater in London, and so he wrote to, as I like to joke, put butts in the chairs, you know, whether that was royalty or or or people who uh only had a couple shillings to rub together. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:42.960 So anyways, uh long story short, it was a family affair. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:12:05.440 Took a village, we got a nonprofit going, and um, you know, one foot in front of the other, and luckily uh I think this area is really primed and has so much talent, and so we felt an immediate response to our work, and now our work is the community work, and the community is us because I mean p everyone steps up and and takes big swings. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:08.559 Well, and that's what happens in ten years. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:22.240 We made a couple of decisions, and I have to um, you know, really tip my hat to my to my brother on this, who who always kind of brings a systems management viewpoint into these uh conversations. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:31.039 But you know, one thing we said is most nonprofits in the United States that are arts-based nonprofits die by year four or five. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:34.720 Sounds sounds like the uh sounds like the restaurant industry. 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:35.440 I know. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:36.240 Gosh, it's tough. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:38.000 It's similar percentages. 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:38.799 Is it really? 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:39.440 Oh yeah. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:42.399 I guess that I guess that makes sense when you think about it. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:45.519 Uh, and and then, you know, kind of to the winner goes the spoils. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:13:05.039 Uh, we just had to think about what are the what are the set of decisions we make that will, you know, maybe be short-term sacrifices, well, certainly be short-term sacrifices that will allow us to continue putting one foot in front of the other at 10 years and to be reasonably thinking about what our next 10-year plan is. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:22.159 So, in a way, like the first 10-year plan was get to 10 years um and and let it evolve and let it expand and and kind of not bite off more than we could chew on the one hand, practically speaking, but in terms of our messaging and our artistic view, actually take major swings. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:22.559 Sure. 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:33.200 Kind of bee babe Ruth a little bit and point to the because because you know, I like to joke, you said founding artistic director, which is technically who I am and what I do, but really my role as head cheerleader. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:33.679 Sure. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:36.879 You know, here we go, we're going that way together. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:39.519 And and and then, you know, everyone brings their energy in the book. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:48.320 Oh, though I mean, really the whole thing is actually just relationships. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:48.960 Yep. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:50.240 That's the whole that's the whole thing. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:52.000 Sounds like hospitality to me. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:52.559 Yeah. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:14:01.759 And then, you know, and then maybe when you're cooking and serving the food, or in our in our case, like when you're actually working on a text and performing, that's the icing on the cake. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:09.120 You know, and did you get people to feel alive in the moment and enjoy the space that they were in? 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:14.720 And and uh theater is hospitality in a lot of ways, I think. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:15.519 Yeah, I think that's right. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:16.480 Or it should be. 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:17.039 Should be. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:19.919 Well, you know, you know what it's not, you know what it's not working that way. 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:22.159 That that sticks out like a you feel that. 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:22.399 Yeah. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:31.919 And I think if we're able to be hospitable in our theater, it's it's a credit to kind of my my mother's influence uh in what we do. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:41.840 Um yeah, and and and and and sir, you know, serving beautiful food is also high theater in many respects. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:44.159 I mean, it's they they they speak to each other. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:48.480 I think because they're like the core human activities. 00:14:51.039 --> 00:15:07.840 That is such a cool story, family story, um, this property, um, and where it's at now, 10 years in, I saw on your website to condense that into one sentence is Shakespeare in a barn. 00:15:08.159

--> 00:15:09.360 Shakespeare in a barn. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:41.200 I love it, and obviously a lot of other people do, and I've professed to you before that I'm I'm I don't feel comfortable with Shakespeare, and I haven't in my in my years, but uh on the I've only attended one show at theater at Woods Hill, and it was remarkable how much I enjoyed it without having a keen understanding of the the art form. 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:48.720 Um so much of that has to do with the space and the people and the the message and the community like you referenced. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:55.519 Um, but it's a remarkable part of our um artistic community in the Mohawk Valley. 00:15:55.679 --> 00:16:02.480 Um can we talk uh so you mentioned Willis Wilcox and Florence? 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:06.480 Yeah, they sound those were your your grandparents. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:07.360 Yeah, my dad's parents. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:08.320 Do you remember them? 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:08.879 I do. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:11.919 Although my grandmother died when I was quite young. 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:15.200 Okay um but my grandfather was around until I was 19. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:16.799 So that is tremendous. 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:23.120 And he lived in the home right there on the property where your father was born and raised. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:29.039 Yeah, he was actually yeah, he was born in Faxton and uh and raised there. 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:29.840 Wild. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:35.279 And you were not born and raised in that house, but on the family land, is that correct? 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:38.240 Yeah, my brother and I were actually both born in Cooperstown. 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:38.799 Okay, yeah. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:41.759 Um, but the family was living at the farm. 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:46.960 Um your mom and dad built a house on the back side of the property, is that how it goes? 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:47.679 Exactly. 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:51.600 Actually in the woods for which Woods Hill is named. 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:52.240 Ah. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:17:07.279 And so it's a big chunk of of acreage in Aneida County, and uh it is beautiful and picturesque, and it it sits high enough up on the hill that you can really get an appreciation for the Mohawk Valley. 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:07.680 Yeah. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:13.200 Um and did your grandparents purchase this land or does it go beyond that? 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:37.119 They purchased the land, the farmhouse foundation was there, um, and they built the barn um with actually with you know, as it as it would have been done and as it was done with uh trees from the property that were planned on the so this is your family land, and this barn was built by your family. 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:56.960 Precisely and that is with a lot of other help, but yes, but by my grandfather that is something to you know really take pause and and think about the the the gravity of that to me, you know, of

for one family to to have put down those roots and be able to stick with them. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:05.440 So your children are what would be the fourth generation of Wilcoxes to that's a special thing. 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:11.839 So the fact that you have this remarkable uh not-for-profit right there on the farm is is beautiful. 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:12.480 Thank you. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:17.200 And you can feel it when you go to an event there, uh, and you can feel it. 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:28.799 So when you when you we go to one of your son summer shows, and your concept for for by and large focuses around one production per year. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:36.720 I'm sure there are I know there are some adjacents, but you put the majority of your energy into a two-week run. 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:38.079 Yeah, that's right. 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:56.240 I mean, um in in one way, necessity is the mother of invention with this, so um, and and our kind of the the resources that we're able to garner towards this, we focus primarily on the one summer production, and then for the past three years, we've been collaborating with Unity Hall in Unity Hall. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:18:58.559 One of my favorite spaces. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:05.119 So um, so we're really thrilled to do our third production with them later this fall. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:09.519 We have not yet announced that production, but it people will know about it soon. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:20.880 Um yeah, and so you know, Shakespeare in a barn, that concept is that you're in this unique space, it's not a typical proscenium theater. 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:29.200 There are a lot of different entrances and exits that are non-traditional to a typical uh theater space, and it's also adjacent to nature. 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:41.039 So the kind of rhythms of farm life are kind of present in the performance, whether it's you hearing a sheep bleeding or just the wind blowing through the trees or the moon coming out during a show and you can see it through the barn doors. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:41.359 Sure. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:43.200 Um tractor driving down the road. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:44.319 Oh, plenty of that. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:45.200 Plenty of that. 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:47.359 Although, you know, yeah, yeah. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:49.920 Hey, it's just part of part of what it is, right? 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:50.720 Indeed. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:20:05.599 Um, and then and then, you know, with with with Barneveld, with Unity Hall, who are really kindred spirits to what we do, uh, there so far, anyways, we've been focusing on um 20th century American classics. 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:10.960 So um Tennessee Williams, Edward Alby, and uh coming up Neil Simon. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:12.880 So fun times. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:17.359 That was a uh uh a T a little a little bait of the hook. 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:18.240 Precisely. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:19.680 Well, exciting. 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:35.359 And um thank you for bringing those arts to uh the Mohawk Valley and for taking a chance on on this concept, which I think likely has started to attract a regional audience, not just the local audience. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:36.319 Yeah, it's true. 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:55.039 Um, and that's always good because those of us who live here in the Mohawk Valley, I think for the most part know how special of a place it is, but um it can be overlooked by lots of great neighbors like Finger Lakes and Adirondacks and uh the Hudson Valley. 00:20:55.119 --> 00:21:14.079 Um but Mohawk Valley is uh a a special place due in part to uh its proximity to all those wonderful things and its own natural and and uh otherwise interesting uh attractions. 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:19.440 Yeah, I think people have talent here coming out of their ears. 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:27.359 And I think that let me be frank, this area when I was growing up had a self-image problem. 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:27.759 Yeah. 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:40.240 Indeed, like a lot of Rust Belt cities, like a lot of Rust Belt cities, and and and that's just you know, in in some ways that's par for the course, but I think that it, you know, the past 20 years have been time for this kind of slow burn renaissance. 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:43.039 Um, and you're a huge part of that. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:59.599 And I think we started seeing it, especially after the financial crisis, when people started coming back to the area with expertise and insights that they'd and skills that they'd developed in Chicago and Boston and New York or elsewhere, and they've got to kind of brought it back and started reinvesting in this community. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:08.240 And we're just really happy to be, you know, the the kind of classical theater portion of that because there's so much incredible musical theater here. 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:13.279 There's Broadway Theater League, there's community theater, which is amazing with players and and other places. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:22.160 Uh out, you know, Rome uh theater, but but you know, I think this is our little niche, and um, and it's been great to see people per front. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:38.880 It's been amazing to welcome the young people to our stage because you know, we bring professional actors, and that's a joy, and I think it's fun for local audiences to see people come from afar, but then also to have the local talent be on stage going toe-to-toe with the professionals. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:44.079 Killcoin Farms, that's beef that I trust, and you can too. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:50.480 We're talking about a third-generation farm in the Hudson Valley working hard to supply New York State with high quality beef. 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:57.039 I can say with a great deal of experience that the quality of their operation and their product is worth seeking out. 00:22:57.279 --> 00:22:58.880 Knowing your farmer matters.

00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:02.079 So killcoinfarms.com, check them out. 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:39.039 So, for those people that aren't familiar, uh hopefully a lot of people who are are tuning into this podcast that aren't super familiar with wood the theater at Woods Hill yet, you just said you're bringing in professional actors from New York City or beyond, um, through connections that you've made and and uh probably uh now the reputation for the the theater itself, and you uh allow locals to audition for smaller or larger or whatever parts. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:41.359 Yeah, I do like is that correct? 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:46.160 It's well it's correct, except for that I we actually have never had auditions. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:46.799 Okay. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:52.000 Um but but what we do is um um I really enjoy scouting. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:59.279 And then also kind of people come to me through natural networks, and then I get to go see their work uh and then we bring them into the fold. 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:12.240 Um but yeah, so I mean our Prospero, who's the you know, the main character in The Tempest this year, uh our Prospero we're flying over from East Anglia, England, where he lives um really with his husband. 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:12.720 Yeah. 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:14.079 So um very cool. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:19.039 And but Al Alistair Bogue, whom I'm speaking of, who's Oh, he's been in productions past. 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:20.480 This will be his sixth production with us. 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:21.359 Okay. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:25.279 Um just an incredible human being and an incredible artist. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:28.640 So he comes over and stays for a couple of months. 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:30.559 He they've been living in New York for a long time. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:31.519 Okay, gotcha. 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:31.920 Gotcha. 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:37.119 But we're we're now now they're back in England and uh so we've spared no expense. 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:37.920 Very cool. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:38.720 Um yeah. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:40.640 I love I love that concept. 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:47.200 I love I love the the the inherent hospitality of it, and I'm glad that we've connected. 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:54.720 I first met your your um mom and dad before I met you through through um the restaurant and the local food scene. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:25:02.960 And and uh I should say too that you know knowing your mom and dad is uh a tremendous honor. 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:09.839 Um and getting to know you guys and and uh have not met your brother, but what you're doing at the theater at Woods Hill. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:17.279 Um okay, I can stand it no longer because we have something to talk about and and uh segue into it. 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:30.000 Um by way of Peter and Susie Jones, a couple of my favorite farmers, we have gotten connected on a concept to um do a few different things. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:42.079 Um I guess it was Peter's idea to to bring to you an idea of of some sort of of live interpretation of the canterbury tales. 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:42.880 That's right. 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:51.519 And Susie reached out to me and was like, hey, if we had this idea and we could launch it, would you be interested in doing some food? 00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:52.960 And I was like, sure. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:59.359 And then I had to go Google what the Canterbury Tales were because that's how little I knew of it. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:02.319 And then we got together to talk about it with you. 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:20.240 And I suspect you and Peter might have had a side conversation, but um tell us what we're going to be uh uh what we are endeavoring to do on June 27th, uh coming up here at the culmination of your tenth season at the theater at Woods Hill. 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:21.200 Okay, fantastic. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:25.599 So I mean, yeah, let me just underscore that by saying shout out to Peter and Susie Jones. 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:26.000 Totally. 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:33.680 Jones Family Farm is one of the my my favorite places in the area, and the love and care that they put into everything they make is astounding. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:34.319 Indeed. 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:37.200 Um and they've shaped our lives in in a number of ways. 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:41.759 So You can check out Susie on episode number two. 00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:42.799 Thanks, Ryan. 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:43.680 Episode two. 00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:45.359 The hospitalitarian podcast. 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:46.240 Sorry to interrupt you. 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:48.480 I love hospitalitarian, by the way. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:58.799 Um that that's I might have kind of made up the word, but um also I see other people who I really like in hospitality using the word, so I don't think I made it up. 00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:15.359 Well, it brings to mind I think it was is it John Stuart Mill who came up with utilitarianism, which is this notion that like to bring the greatest good to the most people, and like the concept of doing that through hospitality, which is kind of is in there in the sauce in the word, is very, very refreshing. 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:22.000 And I think it's nice to have words that end in Aryan that don't make your skin crawl. 00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:26.640 Yeah, more of not making your skin crawl is a good thing, yeah, for sure. 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:32.720 Because most words that end in Aryan these days aren't ones that conjure up a nice feeling. 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:33.279 Not nice. 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:33.920 I digress. 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:34.480 Uh carry on. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:35.359 No, it's true. 00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:36.160 Yeah, okay. 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:51.359 So I'm so I'm so just giddy about, first of all, the fact that we can collaborate, that Peter brought this seemingly crazy idea, which I think he,

you know, I think he was desperately. 00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:54.640 By the way, if you're scouting um Peter Jones. 00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:55.200 Yeah. 00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:56.000 Yeah, right. 00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:56.400 I know. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:02.640 He could totally get in on one of your your Shakespearean productions. 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:03.200 Incredible. 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:06.480 I mean, also giddy about the the Canterbury Feast. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:23.839 I mean, Peter brought this idea, which I think he thought was there was a certain element of it being a little harebrained because really, but it turns out that I had done some of my senior work in college on the Canterbury Tales, so this was something that this was an itch that I had been longing to scratch. 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:27.839 So when he brought it up to me, it was like, is this am I on camera? 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:28.480 Is this Canterbury? 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:34.400 And that's the reason why, you know, like it had been in your mind, but for one reason or another you hadn't started to pursue it. 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:38.319 And sometimes a good idea just needs a little spark. 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:45.200 Okay, so here's what we can say about Jeffrey Chaucer, the author of the Canterbury Tales and and the Canterbury Feast in general. 00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:55.599 I mean, like John Milton, who wrote Paradise Lost, William Shakespeare, who wrote all these great plays and poetry, um, Jeffrey Chaucer is maybe the third pillar on that stool. 00:28:55.680 --> 00:29:10.480 He's one of the one of the greatest poets of the English language, and is actually thought of as the father of English poetry because he was writing in in Middle English, which is an older pre-modern form of English, which is much more heavily reliant on Norman French. 00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:21.119 Um we might have heard of the Norman conquest, which happened in 1066 when the the Norman French, and they're called Norman because Normandy, but they're called that's because they're Nor as a North. 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:25.680 These were actually Vikings who had settled in France and then came back and attacked England. 00:29:25.839 --> 00:29:26.160 Wow. 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:33.200 William the Conqueror in 1066, uh, actually on Christmas Day became king uh of England and kind of took over that area. 00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:42.799 And so their version of French, which is you know slightly different from Parisian French, their version of French, the Norman French, became the official kind of language of the court. 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:51.680 Um Anglo-Saxon kind of old English had been spoken by kind of common people, and then you've got the Latin of the church. 00:29:51.839 --> 00:30:03.920 So the Latin of the church, the Anglo-Saxon or Old English of the people, and the courtly French started blending and blending as people had to negotiate and deal with each other, and all of a sudden this

thing started emerging called English. 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:08.480 And Jeffrey Chaucer was the first major poet that we know. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:13.359 He his name, you know, there's Gawain and the Green Knight, we we call him the Gawain poet. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:19.680 There's the a poem called The Pearl, but we call we refer to that person as the Pearl Poet because we don't actually know the person's name. 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:24.400 Um, but Jeffrey Chaucer was a diplomat, he worked in the king's service. 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:26.160 Uh, he kind of worked his way up. 00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:28.720 Actually, his here here's a segue. 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:32.400 His father was in the wine importing business, as was his father. 00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:36.640 So he kind of they were part of the merchant class in London. 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:37.440 Yeah, and he yeah. 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:40.480 So they were importing it from other parts of Europe. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:41.200 Exactly. 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:41.839 Wow. 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:51.359 So that I wouldn't have even thought that that sort of commercial trade was even established yet. 00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:52.240 It was established. 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:54.160 What time frame are we talking about? 00:30:54.400 --> 00:31:00.400 So Chaucer's born, we think, in 1342 and dies in 1400. 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:01.119 Wow. 00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:03.680 So it's written before 1400. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:04.319 Yeah. 00:31:04.559 --> 00:31:06.880 Actually, they're incomplete. 00:31:07.680 --> 00:31:08.640 The Canterbury Tales. 00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:14.079 And so he dies, and they're complete enough that there's plenty to celebrate. 00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:17.519 But the notion between So these were published posthumously. 00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:25.200 Um they actually were or published is a even a weird word to that time. 00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:29.759 And that that's a big conversation about you know what we think of as an edition of something. 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:41.200 But stories were certainly in circulation and editions of it were published, but you know, this would have been a different conceptual framework from uh publishing a complete and finished work. 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:41.599 Exactly. 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:42.480 That's for sure. 00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:43.119 Exactly. 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:47.440 Like did I write it down and hand it to you for you to read it, right? 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:49.759 Is kind of the act of publishing it, perhaps. 00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:50.400 Right. 00:31:50.480 --> 00:32:07.279 And and and you know, to a to uh you know, this is to a community, to a population that is not entirely literate, you know, passing along these stories through word of mouth and orally is is kind of kind of enormous. 00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:15.759 So he's he's kind of setting it down and then it's kind of being transmitted through um I mean certainly people are reading it, but it's also being transmitted orally. 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:18.240 And so the Canterbury Tales, why are they called the Canterbury Tales? 00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:32.000 They start in an inn called the Tabard in Southwark, in which is actually now it's a part of London, but it was not part of the city of the walled city of London from the ancient Roman wall that was uh part of the city of London. 00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:55.519 So it was kind of on the outskirts a little bit, but it's it's about all these people meeting in an inn, a cross-section of English society, from kind of knights and his squires who are kind of at the apex, uh, down through the clergy, the merchant class, down to uh people um, you know, what I I hesitate to call the lower end of society, but socioeconomically, anyways. 00:32:55.839 --> 00:33:07.119 And they're all with the kind of great equalizer here is that they're all gonna make a pilgrimage to Canterbury in the east of England um to visit the shrine of Thomas at Becket, St. 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:08.079 Thomas at Becket. 00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:11.839 So that's the great unifier. 00:33:11.920 --> 00:33:18.079 People from all walks of life and all classes of English society are making the same pilgrimage together. 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:21.920 And it turns out there's gonna be a storytelling competition along the way. 00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:31.599 Everyone, from their own viewpoint, using their own special perspective, is gonna tell two stories on the way there and two stories on the way back. 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:45.039 Now, it didn't get completed, but we have a lot of, we have a lot of the stories, and they really and Chaucer is so funny and ironic, and he's able to tell these stories in a in a kind of loving way, even though some of the stories are quite dark. 00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:50.559 Some of the stories are from the Bible, some of these stories are kind of um uh conventional wisdom stories. 00:33:50.720 --> 00:33:54.720 Some of them Chaucer invents himself, but everything he puts his own special twist on. 00:33:54.880 --> 00:34:06.640 And the way that they choose to tell these stories, why they tell these stories in the way that they tell them, reflect about who they are and then how they all kind of sit together to form a composite picture of English society. 00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:07.359 Wow. 00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:08.559 Pretty cool. 00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:11.039 I have learned so much. 00:34:11.679 --> 00:34:16.719 Um, I I want to ask, and because we need to define what we're up to, this this Canterbury Feast. 00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:17.679 Right, right, right. 00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:18.079 Good point. 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:30.000 Is Chaucer, is it common for Chaucer to be interpreted in uh you know, a live setting, the way that Shakespeare Shakespearean theater has become so common? 00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:30.960 No, it's not common. 00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:32.559 It's more you would read

it. 00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:36.480 You'd read it, and and often people would read it in a modern translation. 00:34:36.639 --> 00:34:40.079 People often forget that Shakespeare is actually technically modern English. 00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:40.480 Okay. 00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:42.960 It's what we call early modern English, but it's modern. 00:34:43.119 --> 00:34:43.440 Okay. 00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:47.119 Um, whereas Chaucer is markedly Middle English. 00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:50.079 I could give you a little Middle English if you want to hear the difference. 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:59.679 Okay, so oftentimes when when we read Chaucer, you know, you read Chaucer in school, you're given uh Chaucer in Middle English, it's good to get a little flavor of that. 00:34:59.840 --> 00:35:07.280 Um people tend to read him in a modern translation, but um, here's what Middle English we think sounds like. 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:10.000 Here's the opening of the general prologue to the Canterbury Tales. 00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:10.400 Okay. 00:35:11.119 --> 00:35:12.159 If I can recall. 00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:29.920 One that april with his sur soda, the drocht of March hath parsered to the rota, and bothered every vein in switchlicour, of which Berto engendreed is the fluor, when Zephyrus ek with his sweaty breath in speeded hath in every halt and heath the tonder cropas. 00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:31.280 I can go on. 00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:33.280 But that's English. 00:35:33.599 --> 00:35:38.079 I've heard that before and never realized what it was. 00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:52.159 I heard uh Lawrence Ferlingetty recite a poem in uh it was recorded on the the last waltz uh the a film Scorsese film about the the band and their last thing. 00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:59.039 And Ferlingetty reads aloud in there, and I never understood what it was until you just uh did that. 00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:04.960 So that is a a a taste of that Norman French coming into coming into English, yeah. 00:36:05.199 --> 00:36:20.159 English, but there's also uh a feel of of Scottish or or Irish um there, and maybe that is I'm sure those all intertwined and overlapped in in some ways, but wow. 00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:24.639 Even when we think about much way. 00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:26.719 That was really cool. 00:36:26.960 --> 00:36:29.360 It's it's fun, it's fun to pick up, it's a good party trick. 00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:31.039 You know, it's for the podcast circuit, really. 00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:32.960 We we do the Middle English, it's you know. 00:36:33.199 --> 00:36:42.079 Um, but even there's a guy named Ben Crystal and his father, they live in Wales, and they work on what's called OP, original pronunciation. 00:36:42.159 --> 00:36:43.360 They work on Shakespeare stuff. 00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:48.400 So, you know, if Chaucer died in 1400, Shakespeare's born in 1564. 00:36:49.119 --> 00:36:55.199 So we talk about the Elizabethan Jacobian stage, which is what Shakespeare was operating in. 00:36:55.360

--> 00:37:01.119 Even that stage does not sound like you know, Royal British that we think of today. 00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:10.800 You know, it's not it's a very different style, it's much more low to the ground, quick guttural, um, closer in style to the Irish that you you picked up on. 00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:20.960 Um and and we know this by dissecting the text and saying, how come that rhyme it's that's supposed to be a rhyme, but it doesn't quite work right in the way that we pronounce it now, precisely. 00:37:21.199 --> 00:37:24.800 So you have to think about how they intended it to be rhymed or pronounced. 00:37:25.199 --> 00:37:26.320 Wow, that is fascinating. 00:37:26.639 --> 00:37:27.360 I mean it's cool stuff. 00:37:27.440 --> 00:37:28.719 So very cool. 00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:32.159 Um tell us about the the Canterbury Feast. 00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:37.360 And and so Peter comes to to you and says, I I have this idea. 00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:39.599 You're like, wow, I love it. 00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:53.440 Um, and you happen to have a a theater um that happens to be at the the beginning of its tenth season, and so we put this idea together uh as a fundraiser for your uh And then Chef Tim comes along. 00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:54.000 Yeah, yeah. 00:37:54.159 --> 00:37:58.159 Okay, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna to your point, Chaucer. 00:37:58.480 --> 00:38:07.039 Although there have been performances, surely, um it's a written text, it's a it's a in a way, it's a it's an epic poem, if you will. 00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:10.960 Um, it's a a series of tales in verse. 00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:29.119 We're gonna bring it to life in a really full-throated multidimensional way because we're we're doing this beautiful feast that you've created this incredible menu for, which kind of speaks to um, you know, a kind of a sumptuous meal that one might have hoped to experience at the time. 00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:36.880 Um and we're gonna bring sound by performing it live in, so it's not just on the page. 00:38:37.039 --> 00:38:44.159 You know, Chaucer, like the word that we would say night, like a knight in shining armor, in in Chaucer's English is pronounced knicht. 00:38:45.119 --> 00:38:45.440 Right? 00:38:45.599 --> 00:38:52.800 You pronounce all these consonant clusters that we now we've kind of after the great vowel shift, we just kind of uh stream right over. 00:38:52.880 --> 00:38:53.760 We kind of slide right over. 00:38:54.159 --> 00:38:57.679 We made them easier on the tongue, easier on the we can talk faster. 00:38:58.079 --> 00:39:01.760 We can talk faster, we can and and it just kind of gets smoothed over. 00:39:01.840 --> 00:39:02.079 Uh-huh. 00:39:02.320 --> 00:39:07.280 Now, we're gonna be doing a lot of this in modern translation so people can kind of enjoy. 00:39:07.440 --> 00:39:12.719 But what we'll do is we're gonna create a world in that evening, and we're gonna take everyone back in time. 00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:14.000 We're we're gonna do a few things. 00:39:14.079 --> 00:39:19.679 We're gonna introduce Chaucer and his world a little bit in more of a kind of um a little bit of a talk. 00:39:19.920 --> 00:39:20.159 Okay. 00:39:20.320 --> 00:39:34.079 And then we're gonna start threading in the performances, and you're gonna get a real picture of kind of the highlights from the Canterbury Tales, the things that if you want to walk away knowing something about the Canterbury Tales, you need to know the moments that we're gonna be talking about and discussing and performing. 00:39:34.320 --> 00:39:43.119 And then what we're gonna try to do is we're gonna tie it all up in a bow by connecting Chaucer to his great successor, who's William Shakespeare. 00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:58.719 Now, people may not know that William Shakespeare, he didn't necessarily crib Chaucer, but he used stories that Chaucer used, and some might say he even uh took on some of the sensibility that Chaucer presents um in his own work. 00:39:59.119 --> 00:40:01.039 And I think they're deeply corresponding. 00:40:01.280 --> 00:40:03.440 I mean, like I'll just give you one example. 00:40:03.679 --> 00:40:15.599 Um you know, Richard uh the second is uh one one of the leadoff plays in in Shakespeare's kind of um his his historical run that is often referred to as the Henry ad. 00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:19.840 So kind of Richard II to Richard the Third Third, and in the middle are all the Henry plays. 00:40:20.079 --> 00:40:20.320 Gotcha. 00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:30.880 In any case, uh one of the best speeches from Richard II is given by John of Gaunt, and it's it's called This Sceptered Isle, and I won't go into it, but it will be performed at the Gala. 00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:33.119 So this piece of Shakespeare will be performed at the Gala. 00:40:33.519 --> 00:40:33.599 Okay. 00:40:33.840 --> 00:40:34.079 Okay. 00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:35.440 Who's John of Gaunt? 00:40:35.679 --> 00:40:40.000 Well, John of Gaunt um was Chaucer's great patron. 00:40:40.239 --> 00:40:48.639 And actually, Chaucer's wife Philippa, Philippa's sister Catherine Squinford, was John of Gaunt's third wife. 00:40:48.880 --> 00:40:56.079 So there's a deep connection between Chaucer and John of Gaunt, and then Shakespeare's giving his best speeches to John of Gaunt. 00:40:56.480 --> 00:41:12.320 It's hard to really wrap your head around this because, especially with understanding like British nobility of the time, etc., um, and and all these kind of family relationships and the aristocracy, and these authors' different relationships to the aristocracy, because neither of them are from it. 00:41:13.039 --> 00:41:16.719 But but this correspondence is profound and deep. 00:41:16.960 --> 00:41:27.280 And some of the plays like Trellis and Cresida, uh, The Knights Tale, these are are actual stories that Shakespeare brings into his own work 150 years later. 00:41:27.519 --> 00:41:33.199 So lots to talk about there, but so you know me, I'm all

about local. 00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:38.639 When you think about tea, this is a product we cannot source in New York State. 00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:43.760 So you darn sure better look for a relationship with someone local who can curate and source the best. 00:41:44.159 --> 00:41:48.000 I'm a big fan of Saratoga Tea and Honey Company in Saratoga Springs. 00:41:48.400 --> 00:41:57.360 They have a wide selection of loose leaf teas, herbal blends, this really cool and cozy tea bar, so you can have sit-down tea service or tea to go. 00:41:57.519 --> 00:42:02.559 If you can't make it to Saratoga, free shipping on their website over seventy-five dollars. 00:42:02.960 --> 00:42:06.159 That's Saratoga Teandhoney.com. 00:42:10.400 --> 00:42:33.840 So we're going to uh provide an evening of hospitality via food and beverage and the works of Chaucer performed live in an educational sort of uh but entertaining and educational entertainment at the theater at Woods Hill. 00:42:34.079 --> 00:42:34.880 Love it, that's it. 00:42:35.119 --> 00:43:01.760 Um I would be remiss to say that I did not I so I can I I I conceived of this menu via um uh a fair amount of of help from from artificial intelligence um because the the old English that I was reading as I as I researched food of the time period of Chaucer, I needed some help. 00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:02.480 Yeah. 00:43:02.719 --> 00:43:22.559 Um but I did conceive of this menu and it nods to uh uh food in the time of Chaucer, though I'm gonna take a great deal of liberties um with it to deliver something well seasoned and uh easily executed in the barn. 00:43:23.199 --> 00:43:30.800 Um but not straying too far from we won't be eating things that they wouldn't have been eating then. 00:43:31.039 --> 00:43:40.079 That being said, we'll probably be fluffing it out with some local goods that taste delicious and happen to be in season. 00:43:40.400 --> 00:43:41.119 Really exciting. 00:43:41.199 --> 00:43:49.679 I mean, and I think there's there's a correspondence there that goes back to even pa beyond the historical matching up of the cuisine. 00:43:49.840 --> 00:43:58.639 It's this notion that you know, the way you've presented this menu, Chef, along it kind of resonates for me with what Chaucer does on the page. 00:43:58.800 --> 00:43:59.280 Why? 00:43:59.440 --> 00:44:18.800 Because In in a sense it's like the the best ingredients prepared in in this kind of skillful loving way can speak in a way that's always giving back. 00:44:18.960 --> 00:44:19.840 It's timeless. 00:44:24.239 --> 00:44:24.480 Great. 00:44:24.559 --> 00:44:32.159 I mean I sure you know, but this this is just the best, most nutritious poetry and the best, most nutritious food. 00:44:33.039 --> 00:44:34.079 Well packaged. 00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:35.599 Um thank you. 00:44:35.840 --> 00:44:38.559 And um I'll tell you my my part in it. 00:44:38.800 --> 00:44:47.119 You know, Peter and Susie um uh suggested that I I might be involved and I immediately accepted. 00:44:47.280 --> 00:44:54.239 Um we're going to cook a great deal of of Jones Family Farm uh chicken and lamb. 00:44:54.639 --> 00:45:00.480 We'll use their cheeses, generously donated uh to this fundraiser by Peter and Susie. 00:45:00.639 --> 00:45:05.840 Um we'll use almost exclusively produce from Kingfisher Farm. 00:45:06.159 --> 00:45:07.440 Jason's amazing. 00:45:07.679 --> 00:45:26.000 Um we have uh beverages donated uh super generously by Apollo's Praise in the Finger Lakes, uh by Grow Brewing Company right here in the Mohawk Valley, uh by Stride Coffee Roasters, also here in in uh the Mohawk Valley. 00:45:26.239 --> 00:45:28.559 Um and some other things. 00:45:28.719 --> 00:45:30.719 Uh the the menu is beautiful. 00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:34.719 I I'm excited to cook over a wooden fire outside of the barn. 00:45:34.800 --> 00:45:35.280 Yep. 00:45:35.519 --> 00:45:47.679 Uh and um serve it with a bunch of uh, you know, we're putting together a team of of professionals um uh from from all of our connections in years past. 00:45:48.159 --> 00:46:00.320 Um beautiful food, beautiful drink, a historic setting, uh th three four generations old in the Wilcox family, the theater at Woodsale. 00:46:00.480 --> 00:46:08.559 You've talked about this concept of delivering Chaucer live in the moment while we eat, and this will be happening as the meal goes on, correct? 00:46:08.800 --> 00:46:09.519 Oh, for sure. 00:46:09.760 --> 00:46:24.960 Um I am excited to see this um and hope I can pull my head out of uh off the uh the wood fire long enough to see um what's what is partaking, you know, what is is is being partaken of in this. 00:46:25.360 --> 00:46:30.480 Um dear listener, we tell you all this because uh tickets are on sale. 00:46:30.639 --> 00:46:30.960 Yes. 00:46:31.119 --> 00:46:39.440 Um and this is all to benefit the inauguration of the tenth season uh at the theater at Woods Hill. 00:46:39.519 --> 00:46:42.960 All all profits will will go back into the theater. 00:46:43.280 --> 00:46:46.480 Um, and you're kicking off your tenth season. 00:46:46.559 --> 00:46:50.320 You mentioned the Tempest is your selection uh for this. 00:46:50.480 --> 00:46:57.119 Um so we're here to tell you that the Canterbury Feast is tickets are available. 00:46:57.199 --> 00:46:58.719 Um what a great cause. 00:46:58.960 --> 00:47:02.320 I think it's gonna be a really special evening. 00:47:02.719 --> 00:47:08.159 I dare say that um this should really turn some heads. 00:47:08.400 --> 00:47:09.119 Yeah, it's gonna be. 00:47:29.039 --> 00:47:33.440 I know what they all have, uh, and I know what kind of a meal we're gonna put out. 00:47:33.679 --> 00:47:36.320 I also know what it feels like inside that barn. 00:47:36.719 --> 00:47:51.199 Uh I know the the spirit that is alive on your family now, having you you on your family land, you know, having told us um that story, your mom's touch on it, and and uh um it should be pretty awesome. 00:47:51.440 -->

00:47:54.079 I think I think I don't think we can sell it any better than that. 00:47:54.480 --> 00:47:56.159 No, and you know, it's it's it's awesome. 00:47:56.239 --> 00:47:58.320 Uh we're all gonna go on this adventure together. 00:47:58.480 --> 00:48:05.840 You know, and I think when when I first started the theater company, a lot of people would say to me, Oh, Alan, you must know so much about Shakespeare to start a Shakespeare theater company. 00:48:06.079 --> 00:48:10.880 Of course, it was an interest of mine, but I I want to underline this as it relates to Chaucer as well. 00:48:10.960 --> 00:48:13.519 It's that the point of doing this is so that we can learn together. 00:48:13.760 --> 00:48:19.360 Not that we know this all in advance, it's that you don't need to know anything about Chaucer to have this amazing night out. 00:48:19.519 --> 00:48:24.480 Come out, be entertained, Chef Tim Hardman Hospitality cooking. 00:48:24.559 --> 00:48:27.599 It's I mean, it's gonna be a really special kickoff to the summer. 00:48:27.679 --> 00:48:33.679 Uh actually, tickets are already starting to go, so it's really nice to um get a chance to talk about it. 00:48:33.840 --> 00:48:38.000 But um, it's it's more like you know, just abstracting away from that. 00:48:38.159 --> 00:48:42.000 You mentioned all these incredible producers, Apollo's praise, stride. 00:48:42.159 --> 00:48:54.320 I mean, it's like these are they're not just companies, they're people with deep knowledge and years of you know training and service and and and making beautiful things for people. 00:48:54.400 --> 00:48:56.480 And and so that's gonna be present. 00:48:56.719 --> 00:48:57.840 You know craft. 00:48:58.079 --> 00:48:58.880 That that craft. 00:48:59.039 --> 00:49:04.800 Yeah, all that craft that you can't, you know, you you you can't fake, you can't get around, and you know it the second you experience it. 00:49:05.039 --> 00:49:05.199 Wow. 00:49:05.519 --> 00:49:05.920 That's for sure. 00:49:06.320 --> 00:49:22.639 Really nice wines, really nice beers, well roasted coffee, uh the the the best of of uh central New York protein and produce, great service, wonderful entertainment, education. 00:49:24.880 --> 00:49:30.960 Evenings in June in central New York, there is there is very little better. 00:49:31.119 --> 00:49:35.199 Uh our chances of rain are next to nothing, and I said it. 00:49:35.760 --> 00:49:36.320 There you go. 00:49:36.559 --> 00:49:44.559 Um but you know, summer evenings, early summer evenings in central New York, uh, this is gonna be a really special night. 00:49:44.719 --> 00:49:47.280 Where can they go to purchase tickets for the fundraiser? 00:49:47.519 --> 00:49:48.239 Yeah, yeah. 00:49:48.320 --> 00:49:53.119 And let me just say what before I drop that, uh let me just say I I'm gonna throw down the gauntlet here. 00:49:53.679 --> 00:49:59.760 I think that we're really competing for the best possible date night in Central New York. 00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:03.599 I don't, I mean, I wanna uh show you show your cards, Central New York. 00:50:03.679 --> 00:50:04.320 What else you got? 00:50:04.400 --> 00:50:06.000 Yeah, I mean, this this is it. 00:50:06.320 --> 00:50:06.639 Totally. 00:50:07.199 --> 00:50:14.880 Um you can go to our website, woodsill.org, uh, for information about purchasing gala tickets and also tickets to the Tempest the Summer. 00:50:14.960 --> 00:50:17.440 Um and also what are the dates of the summer production? 00:50:17.679 --> 00:50:19.840 That'll be July 23rd to August 2nd. 00:50:20.239 --> 00:50:27.840 So uh uh we're gonna do this, and less than 30 days later, you're gonna start all over with a a tremendous undertaking. 00:50:28.079 --> 00:50:29.280 We're so we're so thrilled about it. 00:50:29.440 --> 00:50:32.480 And our our director this year, Emily Kay Harrison, has come from Hamilton College. 00:50:32.719 --> 00:50:33.039 Oh, cool. 00:50:33.360 --> 00:50:39.519 She's part of the faculty there and bringing in some Hamilton College student actors who are fantastic to be part of the ensemble. 00:50:39.599 --> 00:50:43.519 So it's gonna be it's gonna be a real magical summer and fall, because we're not done yet. 00:50:43.599 --> 00:50:45.039 But yeah, starts with the gala. 00:50:45.519 --> 00:50:46.800 That is wonderful. 00:50:47.119 --> 00:51:12.079 I am truly very excited um for a few things for the Canterbury Feast on June 27th, um, also to have your friendship and and uh be able to, you know, have an opportunity to be a part of of Woods Hill Theater for for a night and uh for lots of other things too, for how much I've learned from you in this in this hour. 00:51:13.599 --> 00:51:20.079 We've literally shaved off a a fraction of what I wanted to talk about. 00:51:20.480 --> 00:51:21.920 I think we'll have to do this again. 00:51:22.159 --> 00:51:22.639 Yes, please. 00:51:22.880 --> 00:51:36.079 Um I think also in in parting, uh I feel like Shakespeare is much like I'm this is me trying to talk myself into uh this. 00:51:36.480 --> 00:51:46.079 I think it it probably has a lot to do with with you you need you need to experience it's like drinking wine or or uh understanding cheese. 00:51:46.320 --> 00:52:10.559 You you can read it all you want, you can read about it all you want, but until you start partaking in it, building your palate for a really nice wine, uh uh uh well-made cheese, or uh a piece of of English literature and production that you might not know much about, like myself. 00:52:10.719 --> 00:52:16.719 Um I suspect that the more you immerse yourself in it, the more you learn, the more enthralled you become with it. 00:52:17.679 --> 00:52:18.880 You said it so well. 00:52:19.039 --> 00:52:30.880 And there's a reason why these plays are still made 450 years later, in fact, 410 years to the year from Shakespeare's death. 00:52:31.119 --> 00:52:46.559 There's something there's something where he's grappling with these timeless issues where it's romance,

Starcross lovers in Romeo and Juliet, or issues of power like we saw in Macbeth, or issues of uh of kind of magic and redemption like we see in The Tempest. 00:52:46.719 --> 00:52:51.440 There's something about it where it show it shows the mirror uh back to us. 00:52:51.599 --> 00:53:02.480 And and and the other thing I'll say is, you know, I don't like to talk politics because you know I run a theater company and we like to be op we open our doors to everyone. 00:53:03.119 --> 00:53:14.000 And and I think one one thing that's really cool is you know you could be from any walk of life, any background, any political background. 00:53:14.159 --> 00:53:20.079 You come into the barn together and we share a story together, and then everyone in that room now has something in common. 00:53:20.320 --> 00:53:20.639 Indeed. 00:53:20.800 --> 00:53:29.119 And it's gonna, when when they eat your meal, they're all gonna have that experience together, no matter their walk of life, no matter their view on any given topic of the day. 00:53:29.360 --> 00:53:33.440 Now we're tighter as a community because we've shared this meal and we've shared the story together. 00:53:33.519 --> 00:53:35.760 And I think that we need more of that kind of stuff. 00:53:36.159 --> 00:53:36.719 A lot more. 00:53:36.960 --> 00:53:37.760 A lot more. 00:53:38.159 --> 00:53:38.880 That's wonderful. 00:53:39.039 --> 00:53:40.159 Let's put a little bow on it. 00:53:40.320 --> 00:53:45.199 June 27th, um, a canterbury feast at a theater at Woods Hill. 00:53:45.440 --> 00:53:45.920 Let's do it. 00:53:46.079 --> 00:53:46.719 See you there. 00:53:47.039 --> 00:53:48.960 I am uh very much looking forward to it. 00:53:49.039 --> 00:53:56.400 I should have brought a bottle of Apollo's Praise since um today uh we we spoke about Apollo's Praise donating wines to the event. 00:53:56.480 --> 00:54:06.400 Um I've already brought Apollo's Praise to a podcast before, so today I I brought um a beautiful pet nap from uh Red Tail Ridge in the Finger Lakes. 00:54:06.559 --> 00:54:14.159 My friend Nancy is a remarkably talented winemaker um and really excels in bubbles. 00:54:14.320 --> 00:54:26.480 Um so Red Tail Ridge won't be featured at our at our event, but uh it's featured in in uh the the hospitalitarian and um I'm so grateful for your time. 00:54:26.960 --> 00:54:32.719 And is Alan Guy Wilcox, is that your first and middle name, or is your first name Alan Guy? 00:54:32.960 --> 00:54:34.000 It's my first and middle name. 00:54:34.239 --> 00:54:35.280 It's your first and middle name. 00:54:35.440 --> 00:54:38.719 I love that you use your and your brother's middle name is also Guy. 00:54:38.960 --> 00:54:39.360 It's true. 00:54:39.519 --> 00:54:40.159 Named after your dad. 00:54:40.400 --> 00:54:40.719 It's true. 00:54:40.800 --> 00:54:41.519 Guy Wilcox. 00:54:42.159 --> 00:54:47.360 I am big on um not necessarily my first and middle name, but my two sons. 00:54:47.440 --> 00:54:52.000 Uh I use their middle names almost well, probably 50% of the time. 00:54:52.079 --> 00:54:53.280 Um they have cool names. 00:54:53.360 --> 00:54:54.400 You gave your kids cool names. 00:54:54.639 --> 00:54:55.280 Yeah, totally. 00:54:55.440 --> 00:55:01.119 And and they work, and uh, I love that you use your first and your middle name. 00:55:01.280 --> 00:55:03.840 Um I just I love it. 00:55:03.920 --> 00:55:12.159 Yeah, I think it's great, especially since I knew your dad and and the nod that Alan Guy is to your father. 00:55:13.039 --> 00:55:18.960 Um yeah, June 27th will actually be the the second anniversary of his passing. 00:55:19.199 --> 00:55:28.559 So I didn't I didn't know I was gonna mention that, but you know, that's something that um everyone in the family it it just kind of serendipitously came together on that day. 00:55:28.639 --> 00:55:30.480 So what a night to celebrate him. 00:55:30.719 --> 00:55:36.719 I I I suspect um that would be holy cow, that just made it even more special. 00:55:37.280 --> 00:55:39.920 Um that's pretty remarkable. 00:55:40.079 --> 00:55:41.360 I'm looking forward to it. 00:55:41.519 --> 00:55:42.480 I'm grateful for your time. 00:55:42.719 --> 00:55:43.360 Thank you, Shaf. 00:55:43.519 --> 00:55:46.079 Let's uh let's cheers to our uh to our friendship. 00:55:47.199 --> 00:55:48.159 Thank you. 00:55:50.400 --> 00:55:57.280 While the hospitalitarian podcast is rooted in the Mohawk Valley, we celebrate the whole of hospitality in the umpire state. 00:55:57.519 --> 00:56:04.000 The hospitalitarian is recorded at MVCC's Thincubator and produced by Ryan Miller at Rust Belt Studios in Utica. 00:56:04.400 --> 00:56:06.159 Theme music by Nashua Rob.