Elements Theatre to Host April 2014 Birthday Bash for the Bard

On Friday & Saturday, April 25 & 26, Elements Theatre Company of Orleans, MA will present a series of performances, lectures, and celebrations honoring the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare and his enduring legacy. As the focal point of the weekend-long celebration, Elements will present an original work, Labyrinth: A Legacy of Language, exploring Shakespeare's influence on playwrights through the centuries with scenes by Tom Stoppard, Tennessee Williams, Henrik Ibsen, Richard Sheridan, and Shakespeare himself.

Other events include Pre-performance lectures by John Clark, a local Medieval Literature scholar and founder of The Inquiring Mind classes in Eastham, brown bag lunches and a Birthday Dinner, a gallery display of Shakespeare's life and times, and opportunities to record sonnets for the Word Made Flesh online sonnet project.

DATES, TIMES, AND LOCATION

Friday, April 25 -

· 7:00 Lecture by John Clark

· 8:00 Performance of Labyrinth: A Legacy of Language

· Reception following

Saturday, April 26 -

· 12-2 Brown Bag lunches available for sale for $10

· 2:00 Pre-performance lecture by John Clark

· 3:00 Matinee performance of Labyrinth: A Legacy of Language

· 5:15 Service of Choral Evensong in the Church of the Transfiguration

· 6:15 Celebratory Birthday Dinner!

· 8:00 Performance of Labyrinth: A Legacy of Language

Tickets: Show only: $30, $25 Seniors, Free for students and age 18 and under; Dinner and Show: $60 General, $55 Seniors, $18 for age 18 and under. All events take place in Paraclete House at Rock Harbor, Orleans. For details and tickets, call 508-240-2400 or visit www.elementstheatre.org.

ABOUT THE GUEST LECTURER

John Clark, born and educated in England, is now a year-round resident of Eastham, Massachusetts. He has taught for the British Council in Beirut, at the American University of Beirut, at UCLA, where he was nominated for a Distinguished Teaching Award, and at Central Washington University. John holds a Ph.D. in Medieval Literature and English Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin and is one of the editors of The Dictionary of American Regional English. John is also a certified life coach, a published writer, playwright and musician. He is an Associate of The Royal College of Music, London (ARCM), and played oboe for ten years in the Cape Symphony Orchestra, where he now gives pre-concert talks.

ABOUT ELEMENTS THEATRE COMPANY: Elements Theatre Company is a non-profit, professional theatre ensemble of 16 artists-in-residence who perform both classical and classically rooted modern works year-round in Orleans, Massachusetts. Founded in 1992, Elements has performed and studied at home and abroad, touring in North America, Europe, and South Africa. Performance highlights of the past decade include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Cherry Orchard, Pillars of the Community, A Christmas Carol, God of Carnage, The Dining Room, Rumors, Lion in Winter and Lady Windermere's Fan. The company maintains an active, ongoing training program, with intensive professional studies in London, New York, Chicago and at home. Past teachers include Patsy Rodenberg, Joanna Weir-Ouston, Glynn MacDonald, Sue Lefton, Louis Colaianni, Jane Nichols, Lenard Petit, Daniela Varon, Christine Adaire, Patrice Eggleston, Kestutis Nakas, Nick Sandys-Pullin and Rachel Slavick.

For more information about Elements Theatre Company, visit www.elementstheatre.org.