The Young People’s Theater Arts Workshops presents William Shakespeare’s Cymbeline

On Friday, July 29 and Saturday, July 30 the West Kortright Centre’s Young People’s Theater Arts Workshops will present its 24th Annual Shakespeare in the Valley weekend. Each evening will begin at 6 PM with the Introduction to Acting Workshop cast of 9- to 13-year-olds, taught by Lynn Fischer. They will be performing a theater piece that they have written and developed, reflecting the setting and themes of this summer’s Shakespeare production of Cymbeline. There will be a picnic dinner (audience can bring their own or there will be hot dogs and veggie burgers for sale) at 6:45 PM.

At 8 PM, the lights go up on a fully staged performance of William Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, directed by California actor, director, and YPTAW alumna Olivia Briggs and performed by her teenage students. The production includes original music by Academy Award-winner John DeNicola. This is a post-apocalyptic Cymbeline, set in Britain, as in the original play. The set is built and sound and lighting run by Erwin Karl’s Technical Theater Workshop students. The costumes are designed and built by students in Christina Rumery’s Costume Design Workshop. The 18 Shakespeare Workshop actors are from local towns and far away and include Henry Marfleet Willson (Delancey) playing Cymbeline and Hope E. Rubeo (Hamden) playing Imogen. The Queen is played by Olivia Throssell (East Meredith), Ian Brydon (Treadwell) is Posthumus, and Lizzie Vamos (Dallas, TX) is Philario. The audience should bring its own lawn seating. The raindate for both nights is Sunday, July 31 at 8 PM.

Several YPTAW alumni are currently pursuing active theater careers. The summer theater workshops have played an important role through the formative years of many of its participants, creating self-confidence and lasting friendships among young people from a wide-range of backgrounds.

2011 Young People’s Theater Arts Workshops and Shakespeare in the Valley are co-sponsored by Clark Companies and SUNY Delhi. Tickets for Shakespeare in the Valley are $11, and $6 under 18. To purchase tickets or for more information call (607)-278-5454, write to West Kortright Centre, 49 West Kortright Church Road, East Meredith, NY 13757, or order online at www.westkc.org.

The West Kortright Centre is funded in part by its members, donors to the 2011 Program Fund Drive, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Arthur, Dewar, O’Connor, and Robinson-Broadhurst foundations. The Centre is an active member of New York State Multi-Arts Centers Consortium, which receives funding from the New York State Council on the Arts.