Brush up your Klingon

Shakespeare in Klingon II: The Wrath of (Michael) Kahn

“I’ve never worked with Klingons before and I figure, after all these years, it’s about time.”  – STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn on his role in the March fundraiser for WSC Avant Bard.

You know how this movie goes. Reliant officers Clark Terrell and Pavel Chekov are evaluating the barren planet Ceti Alpha VI for possible terraforming, using the Genesis Device, when a band of marauders led by genetically reengineered supertyrant Michael Kahn captures them. Kahn forces an eel (which recites the text of All’s Well That Ends Well) into their ears, and…

Oh, wait. WSC Avant Bard is mangling contexts again, and for cash money. This time it’s The Wrath of (Michael) Kahn, the company’s March 4th fundraiser in Arlington, VA.

This is the third WSC fundraiser which embraces themes from “Star Trek,” the television series which had only a three-year run but became immortalized in human consciousness. In 2010, the fundraiser titled Shakespeare in Klingon (the language spoken by an alien people, called “Klingons”, who are apparently big fans of violent death)  boasted the presence of the genial George Takei, who played helmsman Sulu in the TV series. That program was remounted in 2011 with Renaissance man Stephen Fry, the linguist, actor and novelist, who can currently be seen as Sherlock Holmes’ older, smarter brother Mycroft in “Game of Shadows”. Fry brought in a BBC crew to shoot a scene from the benefit, shown below.

This year, the special guest will be Michael Kahn, the singularly accomplished artistic director of The Shakespeare Theatre, who will oversee scenes from Hamlet, The Tempest and other Shakespeare works, all in both Klingon and the more traditional English. “I’ve never worked with Klingons before and I figure, after all these years, it’s about time,” Kahn said (in English).

The evening will be hosted by WSC member Joe Palka, who will be joined by his wife, Emmy Award winning broadcaster Sue Palka.

WSC’s annual invocation of the fabled TV show is, at least in part, due to the efforts of Board Chair Marc Okrand, who invented the Klingon language and, we understand, speaks it fluently.

If the past two years are any indication, the benefit will sell out quickly. For $85, you can see the Shakespeare in Klingon show and get two of the theater’s flexible-use passes. For $250, they up the goodies – you can see the show, attend a VIP reception after with Kahn and WSC Artistic Director Chris Henley after the show and receive four flexible-use passes for next season.

An Evening of Shakespeare in Klingon II: The Wrath of (Michael) Kahn will be held Sunday, March 4th at 8pm at Rosslyn Spectrum Theater, 1611 North Kent Street, Arlington, VA.  To order tickets, click here.  Please do not order your tickets in Klingon.

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Stephen Fry’s “Planet Word” included this segment on Klingon – “one of the newest languages on the planet” with scenes from last year’s benefit.