DCPA Launches SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKING LOT Pilot Program

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) has announced that the pilot program of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot kicked-off this week at Weld Central High School in Keenesburg, Colo. Shakespeare in the Parking Lot featured an hour-long production of Romeo & Juliet performed in and around a pickup truck.

"Romeo & Juliet is a cornerstone in high school curriculums all over the country," said Allison Watrous, Director of Education at the DCPA. "We are so excited to breathe unique life into the same text that these students have been studying. Reading about a sword fight can certainly be exciting. However, it's a completely different experience to watch a fully choreographed stage combat scene, let alone one that takes place against the cab of a truck."

In 2014, DCPA Education served 611 schools in 59 counties with 638 events that reached more than 58,000 students. Programs like Shakespeare in the Parking Lot continue to expand the impact of DCPA Education. The Shakespeare in the Parking Lot program will roll out to Denver metro-area high schools this fall.

"We are excited to take this program first to students in Weld County, whose distance from Denver may prevent them from experiencing the existing student matinee program," said Watrous. "The sheer mobility of a Theatre Truck opens up countless opportunities to expand the theatre arts and make an impact on students and communities across the entire state of Colorado."

Shakespeare in the Parking Lot's pilot program is sponsored by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.

"The arts and education are well aligned with the spirit of our company, making it a great fit for us to help bring Shakespeare in the Parking Lot to Colorado and to schools along the Front Range," said Amy Venturi, Anadarko Director of Social Investments. "This unique approach breaks out of the physical theatre and directly delivers the show to students in an outdoor, non-traditional playhouse experience that introduces thousands of students across the region to the theatre arts."

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