Milton Theatre to hold first Milton Shakespeare Festival April 22-27
The Milton Theatre announces its inaugural Milton Shakespeare Festival for April 22-27. Activities are planned to celebrate the birthday of the great Shakespeare and to entertain residents and visitors to the town.
A birthday party for young Will Shakespeare will kick off festivities on Monday, April 22. Elementary school children are invited to attend and get to know a bit about the bard and his works and to enjoy crafts and activities appropriate to the period in which Shakespeare grew up. Led by dance and theatre teacher Janet Layden, the 5:30 p.m. celebration at the Milton library is free. Parents are asked to call the theatre office at 302-684-3400.
At 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 24, at the Milton Public Library, a presentation will take a look at true English Gardens, as well as the flowers in those gardens that William Shakespeare used frequently in his poems and plays to describe his subject and enchant his audience. Presenter is Wendy Aycoth, who comes from a lovely area very near to where Shakespeare lived. She designed and cultivates her own English Garden with each room decorated differently through a variety of flowers and plantings. This is a free event.
“Will Shakespeare Live!” is a Friday evening treat at the Milton Fire Hall. This one-man performance by noted actor Joe Plummer chronicles Shakespeare’s life. Plummer is a retired actor and college teacher. He has appeared in two off-Broadway productions and is best known on Delmarva for his portrayals of Shakespeare and Charles Dickens in more than 20 libraries and several Chatauqua events. He was featured in two First Night Dover productions, and a number of radio-drama broadcasts on NPR affiliate WSCL in Salisbury, Md.
Plummer is a native of Washington, D.C., where he first appeared in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” at the age of 12. He toured as Mark Anthony in the same play throughout the U.S. and Europe in the late 1950s as part of Players Incorporated, now known as National Players. Tickets for this event on Friday, April 26, are $20 ($18 for seniors and students) and will be available at the door. They may also be reserved in advance by calling the theatre office at 302-684-3400 or sending an email to mdc110@verizon.net.
At 1 p.m., Saturday, April 27, “All the World’s a Stage,” a delightful set of scenes from Shakespeare’s plays, will be performed by New Faces of Shakespeare, an affiliate of Possum Point Players in Georgetown. The costumed performances, which will take place in the gazebo in Milton Memorial Park, are directed by Maureen Downing and produced by Beverly Smith, executive director of the New Faces of Shakespeare.
The scenes are from: “As You Like It,” “Antony and Cleopatra,” “Richard III,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Macbeth,” “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Comedy of Errors,” “Twelfth Night,” and “The Tempest.”
There will be Renaissance period music provided by Richard Eckerd, plus vendors and more. Costumes encouraged. Donations appreciated.
For additional information, call the theatre office at 302- 684-3400 or send an email to mdc110@verizon.net.
