Shakespeare LIVE! Presents Several Family Performances

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's acclaimed educational touring company, Shakespeare LIVE!, will present several family performances at The Theatre's Main Stage - the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Avenue, at Lancaster Road, in Madison.

Since 1997, ShakespeareLIVE! has presented more than 1,300 performances to more than a quarter of a million young people, at over 750 schools and other venues throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and Connecticut.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Shakespeare LIVE! company will perform special Family performances of their 60-minute versions of William Shakespeare's Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as Nevermore: The Final Nightmares of Edgar Allan Poe, created by Shakespeare Theatre resident director and director of education Brian B. Crowe, on March 13 thru 15, 2009. All performances will be held at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Avenue, at Lancaster Road, in Madison. Tickets are $12 for a adults which includes 2 free tickets for children under age 18 with each ticket purchased. For tickets, call 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org

Family performances of Shakespeare's most popular comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream will be held March 14 at 11 a.m. and March 15 at 2 p.m. at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre. When starry-eyed young lovers and zany would-be actors cross paths in a magical forest, the result is one of the world's most uproarious comedies. This raucous production is a thrilling "first Shakespeare" for children as young as grade 3, and a riotous roller-coaster ride of a performance for all ages.

A Family performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth will be held March 14, 2009 at 2 p.m. at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre. Shakespeare's timeless tragedy will spur discussions of politics, power and ethics while keeping students riveted with fast-paced action and eerie visuals. In war-torn Scotland, cryptic prophesies, mysterious witches and vaulting ambition plunge a noble warrior into a maelstrom of deception, murder and eventual ruin. This hour-long adaption is perfect for students in grades 6 and up.

Created especially for Shakespeare LIVE!, Nevermore: The Final Nightmares of Edgar Allan Poe explores the poems and short stories of this American master in the engaging and accessible style for which Shakespeare LIVE! is known. Depicting Poe's final days in a Baltimore hospital, this piece unites biographical sketches from The Life of this brilliant, troubled author with dramatic stagings of some of his greatest literary creations including The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado and The Raven. Nevermore: The Final Nightmares of Edgar Allan Poe will have a family performance on Friday, March 13, 2009 at 7 p.m.

For tickets to or more information about Family performances of Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Nevermore: The Final Nightmares of Edgar Allan Poe, call the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's box office at 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.

Shakespeare LIVE!, celebrating its thirteenth season in 2009, travels to schools and other venues throughout the state and wider region with 60-minute versions of two of Shakespeare's most popular plays: A Midsummer Night's Dream andMacbeth plus Nevermore: The Final Nightmares of Edgar Allan Poe, an adaptation by resident director and director of education Brian B. Crowe. To inquire about bringing Shakespeare LIVE! to your school or venue, call 973-408-3980 or e-mail jbgrant@ShakespeareNJ.org.

Shakespeare LIVE! is part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national theater initiative sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest. An award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in cooperation with Arts Midwest enables Shakespeare LIVE! to also perform at economically disadvantaged schools in underserved rural, suburban and urban areas in the tri-state region as part of the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative. Additional funding for Shakespeare LIVE! is provided by Verizon, The Turrell Fund, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Pfizer, PSE&G, The Altschul Foundation, John & Margaret Post Foundation, Van Pelt Foundation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

To post a comment, you must register and login.