2018 Houston Shakespeare Festival Kicks Off Season With Camp Shakespeare

Camp Shakespeare kicks off the 44th season of the Houston Shakespeare Festival (HSF) at Miller Outdoor Theatre.

A new addition to this year's festival, the camp is geared towards seventh and eighth grade students. Actors in the HSF Company will teach campers basic acting and stage combat techniques. The five-day camp starts Monday, June 18 and ends Friday, June 22 with a parent showcase where kids will perform scenes from "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

"This is an entry point for students to learn about Shakespeare's poetry," said Cori Stevenson, director of HSF outreach. "Our hope is that students fall in love with his language. Shakespeare can be very accessible, and maybe someday they will join us on the big stage at Miller Outdoor Theatre in our conservatory."

HSF Conservatory is a 17-day overnight, intensive summer camp for high school students. Participants live at UH's Cougar Village residential halls and have the opportunity to perform in festival productions and learn from veteran actors and directors. This camp runs Friday, July 20- Sunday, August 5.

The Houston Shakespeare Festival has been a summer tradition since 1975. It is produced by the UH School of Theatre & Dance and offers free performances at Hermann Park's Miller Outdoor Theatre (6000 Hermann Park Dr.). The 2018 schedule is as follows:

• "Hamlet" -July 27, 31; Aug. 2, 4 at 8 p.m.
• "Comedy of Errors" - July 28; Aug. 1, 3, 5 at 8 p.m.

The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter for excellence in undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city and one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse regions in the country, UH is a federally designated Hispanic- and Asian-American-Serving institution with enrollment of more than 45,000 students.

About Houston Shakespeare Festival

Houston Shakespeare Festival (HSF) uses Shakespeare's works to draw together Houston's diverse community to explore our common humanity. HSF debuted in 1975 when Sidney Berger, former director of the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Houston, met with UH administrators and the Miller Theatre Advisory Board about a two-production season of Shakespeare's works to be played in repertory on Miller Theatre's bill. Berger and UH theatre professor Cecil Pickett went on to direct a pair of plays each summer in this unique collaboration between a city and a university. HSF continues to present two performances, free and open to the public, at Hermann Park's Miller Outdoor Theatre each summer.