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Lenox Memorial High School presents 'Much Ado About Nothing' in 2016.

Fall Festival Of Shakespeare Celebrates 30 Years

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LENOX, Mass. — Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the annual Fall Festival of Shakespeare will bring hundreds of teenagers from 10 different high schools to the Tina Packer Playhouse at Shakespeare & Company. 

Beginning on Nov. 15, the four-day festival marks the culmination of the nine-week program that places Shakespeare & Company Education Artists in 10 high schools across Berkshire and Columbia counties. During the program, students explore creative thinking, teamwork and Shakespeare as they create a 90-minute fully-produced performance to be shared with their neighboring communities. 

The weekend before, Nov. 8-11, the high schools will stage performances of their plays in their own auditoriums for local audiences.

The Fall Festival of Shakespeare is nationally recognized for its innovative teaching, emotional intelligence training, and philosophy of creativity and collaboration that encourages students from a variety of schools to come together and support one another.

"The Fall Festival has had a significant impact on the culture of these 10 high schools and their surrounding communities for multiple generations," said Director of Education Kevin G. Coleman. "The Festival is where students embody Shakespeare's words, rigorously think, deeply feel, wildly imagine and speak – without inhibition – the thoughts and feelings, the joys and heartbreaks of his characters. While the Fall Festival of Shakespeare has become a celebrated tradition for our local communities and for Shakespeare & Company, its influence has been spreading across the country in adaptations from Atlanta, Georgia, to Portland, Oregon."

Led by Coleman, the Shakespeare & Company education artists and technical theater designers and school mentors, the Fall Festival is a celebration, rather than a competition. Students are encouraged to delve into Shakespeare’s works, unpack the language, and savor the humor, intensity, and transcendent beauty of these plays. Daily rehearsals focus on students’ personal responses to the text and connection to the language. Students also have the opportunity to develop skills in stage combat, performance aesthetics, dance, technical theatre, costuming, stage management, marketing, and publicity during their Fall Festival experience.

Tickets are $16 for adults and $10 for students, and passes for the Festival are $80 for adults and $35 for students. The $4 service fee is waived for all Fall Festival tickets and passes. Tickets are now on sale and are available online.

The schedule for in-school performances is as follows:

Chatham, N.Y., High School: Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9 and 10, 7 p.m.

Lee High School: Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9 and 10, 7 p.m.

Lenox High School: Thursday and Friday, Nov. 8 and 9, 7 p.m.

Mount Greylock Regional School: Saturday, Nov. 10, 7 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 11, 2 p.m., at Williamstown Elementary School

Monument Mountain Regional High School: Thursday and Friday, Nov. 8 and 9, 7 p.m.

Mount Everett Regional High School: Thursday and Friday, Nov. 8 and 9, 7 p.m.

Taconic High School: Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9 and 10, 7 p.m.

Waldorf High School: Thursday and Friday, Nov. 8 and 9, 7 p.m.

 

The performance schedule at Shakespeare & Company is as follows:

Thursday, Nov. 15

6:15 p.m.: Lenox High School's "Midsummer Night’s Dream," directed by Rory Hammond and David Bertoldi.

8:30 p.m.: Chatham High School's "The Tempest," directed by Lori Evans and Sara Holt

 

Friday, Nov. 16

6:15 p.m.: Lee High School's "As You Like It," directed by Doug Seldin and Alison Howard

8:30 p.m.: Mount Greylock Regional High School's "Henry V," directed by Tom Jaeger and Noa Egozi

 

Saturday, Nov. 17

1:15 p.m.: Monument Mountain Regional High School's "Romeo and Juliet," directed by Dana Harrison and Connie Russo

3:30 p.m.: Mount Everett Regional High School's "Much Ado About Nothing," directed by Caitlin Kraft and Madeleine Rose Maggio

6:15 p.m.: Taconic High School's "Hamlet," directed by Dara Silverman and Luke Haskell

8:30 p.m.: Springfield Central High School's "A Winter's Tale," directed by Lezlie Lee and Jake Merriman

 

Sunday,  Nov. 18

1:15 p.m.: Waldorf High School's "Romeo and Juliet," directed by Annie Considine and Ellie Bartz

3:30 p.m.: Taconic Hills High School's "Much Ado About Nothing," directed by Caroline Calkins and Greg Boover

5 p.m.: "The Reverence" (closing event)


Tags: shakespeare,   Shakespeare & Company,   

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Morris Elementary School Wins Exemplary Reading Program Award

LENOX, Mass. — Morris Elementary School has received the Exemplary Reading Program Award from the Massachusetts Reading Association (MRA), Superintendent William Collins, and Principal Brenda Kelley announced.
 
"On behalf of everyone at Morris Elementary, we are thrilled to have received this honor," Kelley said. "Literacy is an essential part of student development and a priority at our school. To be honored in this way is a testament to our community's dedication to the growth of our students and the future of our society. Thank you to the Massachusetts Reading Association and the Committee for seeing what Morris brings to the table."   
 
The Exemplary Reading Program Award recognizes outstanding reading and language arts programs at all grade levels across Massachusetts. The award program aims to improve societal literacy, recognize schools with excellent reading and literacy programs, encourage program development and refinement, highlight noteworthy efforts, and share information about high-quality programs to help educators improve instruction.
 
Literacy programs chosen for recognition must demonstrate the following:
  • Alignment with sound theory, research, and practice.
  • Access to diverse literacy and multimedia formats.
  • Student success in reading.
  • Comprehension strategies taught and applied across the curriculum.
  • Integration of all literacies into the reading program.
  • Administrator and teacher leadership for the reading program.
  • An effective Multi-Tiered System of Support.
  • Community involvement in the reading program.
After reviewing the school's application and conducting a site visit, the Award Committee voted unanimously to honor Morris Elementary.
 
Morris Elementary will be recognized at the MRA's 54th Annual Conference in Boston next month and receive a commemorative banner.
 
"It is gratifying for the state's reading association to recognize what we in Lenox already knew, and that is—Morris is a great place to learn," Collins said.
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