The West Kortright Centre will present its 33rd Annual Shakespeare in the Valley event... virtually!
Each performance of The Two Gentlemen of Verona begins at 7 p.m. July 31 and Aug. 1. This experimental youth theater production will stream on Facebook, starring the Shakespeare and Music for Shakespeare workshop participants: Susan Gielskie, Leo Besen, Isla Dapkins, Sacha Franjola, Evelyn Potrzeba, Theo Sia, Cassius Quinn-Crandall, Mae Gallagher, Maica Quinn-Crandall, Benjamin Landfield, and Lucia Marsiglio; directed by Lillian Meredith, and co-instructed by Vanessa Van Burek and Stephen Bennett.
These performances are the culmination of The WKC’s Young People’s Theater Arts Workshops (YPTAW) — a long-standing youth theater program that cycles through Shakespeare’s repertoire, and also typically includes set building, costume design, and acting classes for children ages 6-19.
For more three decades, these recurring workshops have played an important role throughout the formative years of many of its participants, developing self-confidence and lasting friendships among the students. Several YPTAW alumni are currently pursuing active theater or film careers, and many have children who are now West Kortright Centre theater workshop participants.
This year’s program was reconfigured as an online experience for the Shakespeare and Music for Shakespeare participants.
The 2020 YPTAW program and Shakespeare in the Valley are co-sponsored by NYCM Insurance and OneGroup/Gordon B. Roberts Agency. Viewers are encouraged to recreate the Shakespeare in the Valley experience by enjoying their own picnic beforehand and creating a viewing space that includes a blanket or lawn chair. Donations are gladly accepted. For more event and donation information, visit www.westkc.org or the West Kortright Centre Facebook page.
