Documentary about IUPUI “Cardenio” production earns three Emmy nominations

  • May 8, 2013

INDIANAPOLIS -- The local public television documentary highlighting the re-creation of a “lost” Shakespeare play and its world premiere performances at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis is in the running for three 2013 Emmy Awards.

“C.S.I. Shakespeare,” which spotlights the IUPUI performances of “The History of Cardenio,” received Emmy nominations in three categories: “Best Historical/Cultural Program,” “Best Program Editor” and “Best Program Writer,” the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Lower Great Lakes Chapter announced recently.

In spring 2012, the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI and Hoosier Bard Productions, under director Terri Bourus, presented the premiere of "The History of Cardenio," a 400-year-old play by William Shakespeare and collaborator John Fletcher. Bourus is a School of Liberal Arts associate professor of English drama.

“C.S.I. Shakespeare,” a 30-minute documentary that first aired in November 2012 on WFYI 1 Public Television (20.1 DT), tells the story behind the play and its production as the first event for the IUPUI Campus Center Theater. 

“These nominations should be a source of genuine pride and happiness for everyone who collaborated in the creation of this documentary,” said William Blomquist, dean of the School of Liberal Arts. “We very much appreciate our partnership with WFYI, and wish 'CSI: Shakespeare' all the best in the regional Emmys.”

The IUPUI performances of “Cardenio” were based on the Shakespeare/Fletcher script as re-imagined by Gary Taylor, an internationally recognized scholar and Distinguished Research Professor at Florida State University. The performances were held in conjunction with an academic colloquium at IUPUI, "The History of Cardenio: Spain and England, Then and Now," which attracted major Shakespeare and Cervantes scholars from around the world.

"C.S.I. Shakespeare" retraces Taylor’s 20-year quest for authenticity in re-creating the play, which included filtering old texts through modern high-tech databases to reconstruct the original.

In “C.S.I. Shakespeare,” producer and writer Jim Simmons, an Emmy Award-winning WFYI producer, and his team captured behind-the-scenes interviews with Taylor, Bourus, Hoosier Barbs actors and colloquium guests. The documentary also features on-stage scenes of “The History of Cardenio” live performances. Pete Saetre and Jerry Prince edited the program.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Lower Great Lakes Chapter announced the 2013 regional nominations on April 25. The nominations for “The History of Cardenio” were among 19 Emmy Award nominations WFYI received in recognition of outstanding local documentary and public affairs program productions.

The 44th Emmy Awards ceremony for the Lower Great Lakes Chapter will take place Saturday, June 1, at the Windows on the River in Cleveland, Ohio.

Production funding for "C.S.I. Shakespeare" was underwritten by the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI.

The History of Cardenio onstage at IUPUI.

The History of Cardenio onstage at IUPUI.

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