Portland Playhouse Presents Fall Festival of Shakespeare

Portland Playhouse is excited to announce that its Fall Festival of Shakespeare will take place at the Winningstad Theatre on November 17 and 18th.

The Fall Festival of Shakespeare is a non-competitive region-wide collaboration between Portland Playhouse and area high schools. The Festival is a spectacular theatrical event, in part because student actors connect well to Shakespeare; they understand the passion, the large stakes, and the disaster. High school is not unlike an Elizabethan Tragedy.

This year, seven schools are participating in the ten-week program that starts with training sessions with Shakespeare & Co. for the teachers and trainers followed by four-days-a-week rehearsals for the students at their respective schools. All schools come together for three common classes where they get a chance to learn, grow, share and laugh with other schools' participants. Each school holds its own performance of the work created by their students, but the real magic happens on Fall Festival of Shakespeare weekend.

The students are not only performers in the festival, but a large and vocal component of the audience. They are most active and vibrant theatre patrons you will ever encounter. They "oooh" and "ahhh"; call out "Oh no she didn't"; scream and laugh. It's the closest thing we have to how an Elizabethan audience at Shakespeare's Globe might have reacted. It's an unforgettable experience for the students involved, and an engaging cultural phenomenon for everyone to witness.

Nikki Weaver, Portland Playhouse Director of Education, leads the festival. Portland Playhouse dedicates more than 30% of its approximately $1 million annual operating budget towards education programs.

Quotes from past Festival participants:

"...it was a really fun experience and I got to know many people. Also I liked how open the festival was; no matter your level of experience in acting you could participate." - Da Vinci Arts MS student participant

"The entire experience was beautiful beyond words. It was life, love, joy, companionship, and so much more than I can hope to express. I found a home and family in this, this showed me that I am loved and have friends that otherwise I would have never realized. I could never hope to articulate the meaning and value to me in this program. It was an emotional experience that gave me life and helped me grow as a person. " Fort Vancouver HS student participant

"During the festival, all of the schools coming together and cheering for each other and fully supporting each other makes performing magical. " Fort Vancouver HS student participant

"I learned a heck of alot about Shakespeare, understanding Shakespeare, and history. I also had some insights and was given the opportunity for insight about community, judgement, and the value of words. " - Franklin HS student participant

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE FOR 2017

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17

Performance Block 1

Friday, November 17 - 6:00 - 9:00 pm

Romeo and Juliet performed by Da Vinci Arts Middle School

plus, a special performance by St. Andrew Nativity School

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18

Performance Block 2

9:00 am - 12:00 pm

A Midsummer Night's Dream performed by Arts & Communication Magnet Academy

Macbeth performed by Metropolitan Learning Center

Performance Block 3

2:00 - 5:00 pm

Hamlet performed by Franklin High School

As You Like It performed by Boise-Eliot Elementary School

Performance Block 4

7:00 - 9:00 pm

Julius Caesar performed by Fort Vancouver High School Of International Studies

Much Ado about Nothing performed by H.B Lee Middle School

Location: Portland'5 Center for the Arts' Winningstad Theatre,

TIckets: $20 for each performance block or $50 for a two day festival pass

www.portlandplayhouse.org or 503.488.5288

Find out more below:

PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE, now in its tenth season of making theatre for diverse audiences in Portland, is a space for people of all social, economic, racial, sexual, and political backgrounds to come together to celebrate the complexity of our shared human condition. Portland Playhouse is dedicated to producing quality, intimate, performances in which the interaction between artists and audience is paramount. We envision a world awakened by the wonder of theatre.

Photo Credit: Matthew Kerrigan

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