Mark Duncan, M.F.A., associate professor and assistant director of the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Performing and Visual Arts, directed performances of the classic comedy The Taming of the Shrew by the Pensacola Shakespeare Theatre (PenShakes), Aug. 9–12.
This marked Duncan’s third play with PenShakes, having previously acted in the theatre’s productions of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night.
The Shrew also provided an opportunity for two alumni from the college to work alongside their former professor. Monica Lynn Herrera (B.A. Theatre, B.A. Dance, B.A. Communication Studies, ’12) appeared on stage as Bianca, the younger sister of the play’s title character. Eric Soto (B.A. Theatre, ’12) worked backstage as part of the production’s technical crew.
As NSU undergraduate students, Herrera and Soto were part of several college performances. At PenShakes, they applied the skills they developed during their studies as members of a professional theatre company.