Shakespeare in Schools tour on area stages

The Utah Shakespearean Festival's 2007 Shakespeare-in-the-Schools touring production — a pared-down version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" — is making several Wasatch Front stops during the next 2 1/2 weeks.

Some of the performances will be during the daytime, geared specifically to students in various schools, along with workshops on stage combat, improvisation and Shakespearean text.

Each 75-minute performance will be followed by an open discussion between the cast, crew and the audience.

This year's production was directed by Brian Vaughn, an Equity actor who is one of the summer festival's most popular performers. Last summer he received rave reviews for his portrayal of "Hamlet."

The annual touring productions, coordinated by Festival Education Director Michael Bahr, encompass more than 60 performances over a 12-week period with stops ranging from Driggs, Idaho, to Tucson, Ariz., and from Moab to Virginia City, Nev.

Professional actors from throughout the country are cast in this year's production, all of them in multiple roles.

George Walker of Arroyo Grande, Calif., plays Theseus and Oberon; Megan C.C. Walker of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., is Hippolyta and Titania; Benjamin Campana of Lorain, Ohio, is Egeus and Puck, and Barrett Ogden of Salt Lake City is Demetrius and Bottom.

Those in other major roles include Matthew Humphrey of Austin, Texas, as Lysander; Mary C. Milner, Morgan, as Helena, and Cristina Panfilio of Milwaukee, Wis., as Hermia.

The following performances are open to the general public:

—Thursday, 7 p.m., Olympus Junior High School

—Friday, 7:30 p.m., Murray High School

—March 22, 7:30 p.m., Ogden High School

—March 27, 7 p.m., Roy High School

—March 28, 7:30 p.m., Salt Lake Community College, 1575 S. State

Ticket prices vary at all locations.

MURRAY HIGH SCHOOL'S performance is part of a two-day "Community Shakespeare Festival" involving several Murray-area schools.

This event includes free "green show" performances on Thursday and Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the Murray High Commons area, beginning with a processional of royal costumes created over the past decade by Longview Elementary teachers, along with renaissance dancing, roving musicians, jugglers, mimes and other entertainment.

On Thursday evening, there will be a free performance of Murray High's condensed version of "As You Like It" at 7:30 p.m.

Admission will be charged for Friday evening's performance of USF's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens, available at the door or in advance at the Murray Parks Office.

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