Stella Adler Studio's Outreach Division Performs THE COMEDY OF ERRORS 7/31

The Stella Adler Studio of Acting's Outreach Division will perform Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors on Friday, July 31. The show will be the culmination of four weeks of hard work by students in the Outreach Division's Summer Shakespeare Program. Stella Adler's Summer Shakespeare program provides free theatrical training to New York City Public School students between the ages of 14 and 18 who come from low-income households and/or schools without arts programming. The 22 students chosen for the program are taught the Adler technique as well as Voice, Movement and Improvisation - the same training that helped cultivate the talents of Stella Adler alumni like Robert DeNiro and Marlon Brando. Their performance of The Comedy of Errors will conclude the program.

The Stella Adler Studio has a long commitment to service and of encouraging students to care about their communities. The Stella Adler Outreach Division has the dual mission of bringing free actor training to people who can't afford it while providing full-time students in professional programs with a model of social engagement.

"Through this program we address an abominable circumstance in our world - that of educational inequity," said Tom Oppenheim, Artistic Director of the Stella Adler Studio. "Training actors is a process of releasing voices. Whenever you can bring a human being fully to his or her own voice, you have contributed something precious, something priceless, to the world. Inner city youth who suffer from educational injustice are being told by society that their voice is of less value than others. That is a lie. The Stella Adler Outreach Division roundly addresses that lie. We believe that the advantages of artist training are not for the privileged few, but provide essential cultural and educational experiences that should be available to all. The Stella Adler Outreach Division is our way of giving life and voice to that conviction and giving voice to New York's aspiring artists."

The performances will be held at the Stella Adler Studio, 31 West 27th Street at 12 noon and 1:30pm. Tickets are available free of change, but require a reservation by calling (212)689-0087.

For more information about the Outreach Division, click here:

http://files.e2ma.net/16090/assets/docs/outreach_overview_july_13_2009.pdf

William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors tells the tale of Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus, twins separated at birth, who end up in the same town. Cases of mistaken identity lead to hilarity as the set of twins meet the other's friends and family.

The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is an acting school based in New York City. The actress and teacher Stella Adler founded the Studio in 1949. Adler founded the Studio on her belief in the seriousness of her art. Adler and the school have trained many of the brilliant actors of our time, including Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, Elaine Stritch, Benicio Del Toro and Salma Hayek. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is a nonprofit organization, which trains over 500 actors annually. The Studio also presents lectures, poetry readings, concerts, theater performances, dance theater events and an annual arts festival. http://www.stellaadler.com