Shakespeare in the park a success

By submitted, 03/15/17 1:12 PM

WASHINGTON – Visitors to Historic Washington State Park enjoyed two wonderful evenings of entertainment with the American Shakespeare Center as they performed the romantic tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” and the comedy “Two Gentlemen of Verona. Attendees from the event came from within a 100 mile radius of Washington and for many this event has become a regular tradition. Some have been coming since the first performance seven years ago in 2011.

Local area high school students from the area attended the afternoon workshops on Saturday and learned Shakespearean acting tips from the actors themselves.

On Saturday evening the favorite actor was a dog provided by the Texarkana Animal League to fulfill the role of “Crab” in “Two Gentlemen of Verona.” Both Hope for Paws and the Texarkana Animal League had booths to promote adoption of dogs in the area. The Hope Quilters Guild also was present as many of the beautiful quilts made by the guild’s members were on display as part of the staging area for the play.

Since 1988, the American Shakespeare Center has toured the country with shows incorporating Shakespeare’s staging conditions. Based out of Staunton, VA, the company mission is to recover the joys and accessibility of Shakespeare’s theatre, language, and humanity by exploring the English Renaissance stage and its practices through performance and education. The organization can be found online at www.americanshakespearecenter.com.

Plan on attending next year on February 23-24, 2018 as the American Shakespeare Center performs Shakespeare’s tragedy “Macbeth” and romantic comedy “The Taming of the Shrew”.

Historic Washington State Park, a restoration village preserving one of Arkansas’ most prominent 19th century towns, is located on US 278 nine miles north of Hope and can be reached by taking Exit 30 off Interstate 30. For more information visit www.HistoricWashingtonStatePark.com or call (870)983-2684.