BSF vivifies Shakespearean romance
Who hasn’t experienced teenage love? You can never forget those ticklish lightning bolts that shoot up your spine or cramp your stomach after merely holding your crush’s hand. Nothing could have ever stopped you from kissing in the hallways – you were in love!
Looking back now, you realize that your definition of love was somewhat misconstrued. It was the mere first stirrings of adolescent horniness. You kick yourself for making out in front of all the buses and never living it down even after you graduate from high school.
In a certain sense, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is very similar to your junior-high love tales. It is currently being performed at St. Mary’s Outreach Center in Hampden by the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival. Founded in 1993, the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival strives to bring classical theatre to our deprived city. In 2003, it became Baltimore’s third professional theater company after signing a Small Professional Theatre contract with Actors’ Equity. Originally performing one show a year, they now produce four every season, including one summer outdoors performance at the Meadow by the Evergreen House. For aspiring thespians, the Festival offers classes in theatrical combat training, voice lessons and general acting lessons. Also, the BSF strives to invest in the community by reaching over 18,000 students across the state of Maryland through educational programs and performances.
Though St. Mary’s may simply look like a quaint old stone church outside, you will be astounded upon walking through the large wooden doors. Masterfully crafted vaulted ceilings with dark wooden beams rise two stories up. The hall’s intricately carved wooden pews are an improvement on the usual plastic folding chairs. Enormous stained glass windows of Jesus and Moses project their colors onto the stage.