Utah Shakespearean Festival

Cedar City, Utah

The Utah Shakespearean Festival presents professional repertory theater to illuminate the human condition and propel us to artistic excellence. Playgoers engage in a stimulating festival atmosphere where they can watch, participate in, and be immersed in experiences which entertain, enrich, and educate. The Utah Shakespearean Festival performs nine plays throughout its summer and fall seasons. These productions are performed in three theaters located in Cedar City, Utah. Now in its 15 th year of touring, the festival also performs fully mounted, 75-minute productions of Shakespeare's plays for schools throughout Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, and Wyoming.

In 2008, a cast of eight actors will perform Romeo and Juliet for schools and communities in their theatrical spaces. Three workshops will be specially designed for each production and will deal with the universal themes of resolving conflict, cultural differences, and parental/child communication. These workshops will be taught by teaching artists utilizing the Shakespearean text. This year, the festival's Shakespeare-in-the-Schools program will expand its present programming in Utah, including the southeastern communities of Moab, Monticello, and Venal; in Navajo communities in Tuba City, Arizona; in Idaho, including Pocatello and Blackfoot; and in Nevada, including inner-city schools in Las Vegas and in the rural communities of Ely and Eureka. The festival is particularly excited about taking Romeo and Juliet into these schools because of its relevance to the challenges that these youth are facing today. Special emphasis will be placed on adapting the play so the resonance between our time and Shakespeare will connect to the audience.

http://www.bard.org/