AN afO FIRST: SHAKESPEARE!!

     We have spent a number of years kicking around the idea of doing Shakespeare on our Home Stage. But it never seemed like the right time. Until now!  Having found the right show and the right concept to bring it to fresh life…God saw to it that we assembled the right cast, too. Young, enthusiastic and very hard working, they have risen to the challenge of Shakespeare’s language, AND playing him in the round, AND adding sword fights and Elizabethan dance.

Auditions were held in September, the cast received their scripts in November, had a read-through after Thanksgiving and a Shakespeare “boot camp” in December, followed by two-hour one-on-one rehearsals with me till the end of the year. We hit the ground running on January 2nd, and got the entire play blocked in four rehearsals. We’ve had an entire Saturday of stage combat, another Saturday afternoon of dancing. Costuming, lighting, music and sets progress apace. As our excitement grows, we want to share with you some of our thoughts on the piece and the process.

To get us started, here is the cast list for this production, which opens three weeks from Friday!

ROMEO:            Connor Beer*
BENVOLIO:      Jadon Moore
MERCUTIO:     Jeremiah Paden
MONTAGUE:   Gabe Schneider
LADY MONTAGUE:    Sarah Masloob*
BALTHASAR:    Jessica Simon
ABRAM:              Kayla Reimschisel*

JULIET:       Shannon Livengood
NURSE:       Michelle King*
TYBALT:     Andy Canaveral
CAPULET:    Nate Chen
LADY CAPULET:     Teresa Bower
PETER:         Megan Speith*
GREGORY:  Sierra Young*

FRIAR LAWRENCE:      Evan Fritz
PRINCE:    Braden Munsie*
PARIS:       Victor Fink*

•  denotes actors making their afO Home Stage debut