Forbidden Planet
Featuring a post-screening discussion led by theatre artist Regine Vital, featuring Northeastern University Media & Screen Studies Profession Nathan Blake, and actor Nora Eschenheimer.
In this sci-fi classic, inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a spacecraft travels to the distant planet Altair IV to discover the fate of a group of scientists sent there decades earlier.
When Commander John J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen) and his crew arrive, they discover only two people: Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his daughter, Altaira (Anne Francis), who was born on the remote planet. Soon, Adams begins to uncover the mystery of what happened on Altair IV, and why Morbius and Altaira are the sole survivors.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Nathan Blake is a Teaching Professor in the Media and Screen Studies Program at Northeastern University. He received a PhD in Visual Studies from the University of California, Irvine, and an MA in Media Studies from The New School. His research interests include Critical Theory, Disability, Masculinity and Gender, Videogames and Online Communities, Phenomenology, Cybernetics, Interwar Avant-Garde Art, Early Cinema, Classical Hollywood (Film Noir, Postwar Film, Boxing Films), History of War and Surveillance Technology, and Apocalyptic Film and Narrative.
Regine Vital (she/her/hers) is a theatre artist, administrator, educator, scholar, and storyteller from Somerville, MA. As an actor, director, dramaturge, and coach, she has worked with several Boston area theatre companies, including Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, ArtsEmerson, Company One, Central Square Theatre, HUB Theatre Company, Fresh Ink Theatre, and Flat Earth Theatre. She has taught composition, introductory literature, and public speaking at the college level; text and performance to high schoolers; and continuing adult education classes in literature. Regine holds degrees from Boston University, UMass Boston, and studied Shakespeare at King’s College, London and Shakespeare’s Globe. Currently, she is the Manager of Curriculum and Instruction at The Huntington.
Nora Eschenheimer is a professional actor based out of Rhode Island, Boston, and NYC. From playing many of Shakespeare's strongest female leads, to creating a one-of-a-kind traveling relief theatre, and hiking over 600-miles across Spain on the Camino de Santiago, Nora's adventurous spirit has not only taken her around the globe, but has allowed her to gain invaluable life experiences. With a passion for human connection at her core, she is always excited to discover where the next project will lead her.
Nora was recently seen playing Shakespeare's heroine, Miranda, in the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's production of The Tempest on the Boston Common. Other area credits: Imogen in Cymbeline for CSC, Helena in Midsummer at The Gamm Theatre, and The Play that Goes Wrong at Lyric Stage.
