Houston Shakespeare Festival Expands Kids Days With New Partners

The Houston Shakespeare Festival (HSF) is joining educational forces with Houston Public Library and Children's Museum of Houston to host HSF Kids Days. This year, families will get a chance to explore the world of theater with free Bard-inspired arts and crafts at three locations.

At each stop, curious kids will have the chance to decorate their own crowns, create a personal coat of arms, dress up in HSF costumes and even meet members of the HSF artistic team.

• 5 p.m.-8 p.m., Thursday, July 19. Children's Museum of Houston during Free Family Night (1500 Binz, Houston, TX 77004)
• 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 25. Stimley-Blue Ridge Neighborhood Library (7007 W. Fuqua, Missouri City, TX 77489)
• 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 25. Collier Regional Library (6200 Pinemont, Houston, TX 77092)

"Creating community experiences for children to learn more about the playwright's work and world is important," said Cori Stevenson, director of HSF outreach. "HSF Kids Days is a way to engage with children outside of the classroom and build the excitement about seeing the Bard's work in a free performance at Miller Outdoor Theatre."

The celebration of all things Shakespeare will take place in conjunction with the Children's Museum of Houston's Free Family Night and the John P. McGovern Foundation's Summer Reading Program at the Houston Public Library.

The kids' activities are a prelude to the 2018 HSF season, which runs Friday, July 27-Sunday, Aug. 5 and features free performances of "Hamlet" and "Comedy of Errors" at Miller Outdoor Theatre. Click here for more details about the shows. Information about tickets and the venue can be found on the Miller Outdoor Theatre website.

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.

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.