J.D. Salinger was not aware of it, but when he popularized the phrase “a gentleman and a scholar,” says Philip Sneed, he had James Symons in mind. Or at least the idea of him.
“James was a really kind and intelligent and thoughtful person,” said Sneed, whose 2006 appointment as producing artistic director of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival was at the recommendation of a selection committee chaired by Symons. “I liked him so much, and respected his intelligence so much, that if I were to be hired, I knew that I wanted to work with him.”
And he did, tabbing Symons to helm the problem play “Henry VIII” in Sneed’s second season. Sneed is now the CEO of the Arvada Center.
James Symons.
Symons, who chaired CU-Boulder’s department of theater and dance from 1984-99, was a teacher to the core. As a frequent director for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival – the nation’s second-oldest – he saw every staging as an opportunity to teach the word (and the world) of Shakespeare.
When Symons directed “Hamlet” in 2003, he told me his No. 1 goal was to make perhaps the richest text ever written understandable for 8-year-olds, “without dumbing it down one bit to make it so,” he said.
He had fun. He took chances, and he wasn’t precious about the sanctity of the canon.
Critic Sandra Dillard praised Symons’ 1993 staging of “The Tempest” for infusing Shakespeare’s 400-year-old shipwreck story with 1950s bikers, 1960s Supremes and 1990s rappers.
“There wasn’t one false step,” Dillard wrote for The Denver Post. “It is clear that Symons feels great affection for his characters, and as a result, so do we.”
Director James Symons’ 1993 production of ‘The Tempest’ for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival drew glowing words from Thee Denver Post theater critic at the time.
Symons died on March 6 in Boulder from pneumonia. He was 87. In his later years, he remained an emeritus professor at CU, teaching theater history and dramatic literature while also directing plays at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
James Symons during his acting days. He’s at right starring in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s ‘Antony & Cleopatra’ in 1985.
Symons was born on May 7, 1937, in the farming community of Murrayville, Ill. His lifetime proclivity for the performing arts began with his parents teaching him to play the piano. Right after graduating from Illinois College in 1959, he was cast in the lead role of an off-Broadway play called “Shakuntala,” a 1,500-year-old story written by India’s master poet Kālidāsa. Later that year, he married Judy White. They were married 62 years, until her death in 2021.
After Symons earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University, Judy and the family’s growing ensemble of three daughters accompanied him to teaching gigs at colleges in Minnesota, Texas and New York before they all settled in Boulder in 1984.
Chip Person’s in a seminal – ans memorable – 2002 production of ‘Richard II’ for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in Boulder.
My first exposure to Symons’ work as a director was his unforgettable 2002 production of “Richard III.” When actor Chip Persons stepped forward from the company curtain call to take his solo bow, the first few rows recoiled, as if the actor might attack them. A gasp could be heard, then nervous laughter. That’s how good he was. And they were. Persons, under Symons’ eye, left the audience feeling as though they might be in mortal danger. That’s saying something.
Symons, who served as the festival’s acting artistic director for a season, gladly took on some of Shakespeare’s more obscure titles because he felt it was important that the company complete the Bard’s full canon a second time, a massive goal finally achieved in 2017. That’s why he took on the thankless job of directing – and adapting – “Henry VIII” for Sneed.
“James was the best possible bridge between the professional theater world and the theater scholarship world,” Sneed said. “It’s not easy to do both.”
“Henry VIII,” he added, is a challenge for any director. “He brought scholarship and theater practice to that production, and I was really proud of that – and him.”
Symons was also the company’s longtime Director of Dramaturgy. Meaning if anyone ever had a question about anything regarding the origin, meaning or context of Shakespeare’s text, they went to Symons.
In 2004, Professor Symons was named Outstanding Teacher of Theater in Higher Education by the largest professional organization for theater professors in North America. Bud Coleman, his successor as chair of CU’s theater and dance department, said what students and colleagues appreciated about Symons most was his excellence as a mentor.
“I consider him to be the epitome of a great teacher and theater director,” Coleman said at the time.
Symons earned the Library Association’s 1971 Freedley Award for the best theater book of the year, “Meyerhold’s Theatre of the Grotesque.” He served as president of the Association for Theater in Higher Education from 1989-91. And he was designated a President’s Teaching Scholar in 2001-02.
In all, he directed more than 60 plays, including 11 for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival – most recently “Richard II” in 2013.
C hip Persons and Jamie Ann Romero in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s ‘Richard II’ in 2013, the fina play directed by James Symons for the company.
“Jim always had a sparkle in his eye, an insight at the ready, and he taught us immensely about the power of Shakespeare’s words,” the company said in an uncredited statement. “The world is a bit dimmer without Jim in it, but we are comforted knowing how lucky we were to learn from him, and to witness his passion for learning, theater and books.
Symons is survived by his daughters, Tracy Symons Smith, Kelly Symons and Carrie Symons, as well as three granddaughters. A celebration will be held at 1 p.m. June 21 in the Canyon Theater at the Boulder Public Library. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation in Symons’ memory to any local library.
“It’s amazing how much brighter the day feels,” Symons is said to have recently shared, “when you’ve got a visit to the library in it.”
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