Huntington-Codman Summer Theatre Institute Presents THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

The Huntington-Codman Summer Theatre Institute - a collaborative project of the Huntington Theatre Company Department of Education and Dorchester's Codman Academy Charter Public School - culminates in two public performances of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor on Thursday, July 26 and Friday, July 27 at 7pm at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. The public performances are free; attendees are encouraged to RSVP online.

Fourteen Codman students and alumni from the Boston neighborhoods of Dorchester, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roxbury, as well as from the cities of Walpole and Randolph, Mass., will play roles in the comedy that follows the adventures of a buffoonish Falstaff and the consequences that befall him when it's discovered he is simultaneously courting two women.

Participants in the Summer Theatre Institute receive modest stipends for participating in the five-week program. In it, students explore the theatrical process, including broadly applicable lessons on literacy, teamwork, time management, and public speaking. The program began 13 years ago as a response to an increased risk of violence among Boston area teens during the summer, especially between the hours of 4pm -7pm. The Institute provides a safe environment for Codman Academy participants who range in age from sophomores to recent graduates. Students say the program encourages camaraderie, creativity and fun.

• "I love doing theatre," says Eddy Morency a Codman junior and first year participant who will play Master Page in the Shakespeare comedy. "Being in this show gives me an opportunity to meet people from my school who I haven't met before."
• Codman junior and second-year participant Patrick Germain, who will play Falstaff, says, "I like telling stories. This is a chance to use my voice for that. And it helps lots of people break through their shyness to become more comfortable with others."

· "It's fun.," says Arie Dowe, a Codman junior and second year participant in the Summer Theatre Institute program. "I like when the people who did it last year come back; it gives us a reason to talk to more people when we go back to school... you get to connect by being here."

· Sophomore and first-time participant Amber Taste-Suite, who plays Shallow, says she decided to audition for the show to work on her public speaking. It's a good skill to have in the future."

A full list of the students in the Summer Theatre Institute is below (alpha by last name):

• Rachelle Brown-Mitchell '19 (Anne Page/Rugby), Dorchester
• Joanna Casimir '21 (Fenton), Randolph
• Karel Deller '20 (Master Ford), Jamaica Plain
• Arie Dowe '20 (Hugh Evans), Dorchester
• Patrick Germain '20 (Falstaff), Mattapan
• Felicia Green '21 (Slender), Roxbury
• Jonathan Joassaint '20 (Dr. Caius), Dorchester
• Eddy Morency '20 (Master Page), Hyde Park
• Ariel Mullings-Bent '17 (Mistress Page), Dorchester
• Daniela Rosa '21 (Nym), Dorchester
• Latasha Snider '14 (Mistress Quickly), Dorchester
• Amber Taste-Suite '21 (Shallow), Dorchester
• Zachary Taylor-Kelley '16 (Host of the Garter Inn), Dorchester
• Carla Velasquez '16 (Mistress Ford), Walpole

ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON AND CODMAN ACADEMY CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP

The Huntington is a founding partner of Codman Academy Charter Public School and collaborates with Codman year-round to create and teach its innovative, interdisciplinary Humanities curriculum. Now in its 18th year, the partnership with Codman Academy showcases the Huntington's wide-reaching youth, education, and community initiatives. The program has been recognized locally and nationally as a model for improving urban students' reading, writing, speaking, and presentation skills. The partnership between the Huntington and Codman Academy was awarded the Commonwealth Award, the state's highest award in the arts and culture, by the Mass Cultural Council; Codman Academy is the only public school to receive this recognition. The partnership engages and stimulates students from neighborhoods often excluded from Boston's dynamic cultural life and enables them to develop both an understanding of and appreciation for the theatre by studying and attending Huntington performances, observing behind-the-scenes activities of the theatre, and participating in hands-on work in the theatre arts. The Huntington Theatre Company's Department of Education is one of the most extensive, impactful, and admired theatre education departments in the country. Over the past 36 years, its nationally recognized programs have served more than 560,000.

ABOUT THE Huntington Theatre Company
The Huntington Theatre Company is Boston's leading professional theatre and one of the region's premier cultural assets since its founding in 1982. Recipient of the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award, the Huntington brings together superb local and national talent and produces a mix of groundbreaking new works and classics made current to create award-winning productions. The Huntington runs nationally renowned programs in education and new play development and serves the local theatre community through its operation of the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. The Huntington has long been an anchor cultural institution of Huntington Avenue, the Avenue of the Arts, and will remain so on a permanent basis with plans to convert the Huntington Avenue Theatre into a first-rate, modern venue with expanded services to audiences, artists, and the community. Under the direction of Artistic Director Peter DuBois and Managing Director Michael Maso, the Huntington cultivates, celebrates, and champions theatre as an art form. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.

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