Washington State Park will host a matinee production of the American Shakespeare Center Dangerous Dreams Tour production of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar on Friday, February 26, at 9:30AM in the WPA Gym at the park. The production is for area high school students and classes. Admission is paid through a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. At the end of the play, actors will provided a 15 minute question and answer period for students.

The American Shakespeare Center brings a unique performance style, blending Shakespeare’s stagecraft with modern sensibility. The company uses Shakespeare’s staging conditions including universal lighting, minimal sets, doubling, cross-gender casting, and music. In Shakespeare’s day, the company couldn’t turn the lights out on the audience; actors and audience shared the same light. Leaving the lights on allows for a type of audience contact rarely seen in modern-day theatre. Audience members play the roles written for them: Roman plebeians and senators in Julius Caesar.

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 American Shakespeare Center.

If a class or group of students are interested in attending, they should contact the park's Visitor Center at 870-983-2684 to reserve spots for the performance. A maximum of 200 attendees will be allowed to attend the three-hour performance.

Historic Washington State Park is a restoration village preserving one of Arkansas’ most prominent 19th century towns. It's located on US 278, nine miles north of Hope, Ark., and can be reached by taking Exit 30 off Interstate 30.

For more information visit Historic Washington State Park or call 870-983-2684.

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