In partnership with The Lewes Public Library Spoken Word Society and Shakespeare Festival and the Classic Theatre of Maryland (CTM) join the Tony-Award nominated, Helen-Hayes Award-winning Donald Hicken as he leads participants through an immersive, interactive play-read of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This experience includes unified discussions, textual analysis, and live demonstrations by CTM’s starring performers, Joshua Olumide (SAGe, EMC), and Kira Janine. The team will be supported by CTM’s Founder and Producing Artistic Director Sally Boyett and Director of Education Matt Tucker (MDiv, ORDM).

Donald Hicken brings fifty years of professional theatrical experience and conservatory training with him, formerly served as the Department Head of Theatre at The Baltimore School for the Arts from its founding in 1979 to his retirement in 2016, and now serves as Chairman of the Board for CTM. The mission of the Classic Theatre of Maryland is to produce bold, re-imagined, entertaining and accessible interpretations of classical works, contemporary plays, and musicals with a core commitment to the works of Shakespeare and other major dramatists. CTM is committed to promoting the highest level of artistic excellence, to cultivating the widest possible audience, and to contributing to the economic and cultural growth of our community, state, and region.

The Shakespeare Festival, a program of the Lewes Public Library since 2015, seeks to provide the community with experiences that foster the understanding of Shakespeare and the world in which he lived and wrote. In addition the Festival fosters the development of new works celebrating the spoken word and hosting performances of classical texts.

The Shakespeare Festival is partially funded by a grant from the Delaware Humanities, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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