MaineStage Shakespeare Kicks Off 2013 Season Tonight at the Kennebunks

This July, the actors of MaineStage Shakespeare return to the Kennebunks with a trio of Shakespearean favorites: Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, and a family-friendly matinee of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), a comic mash-up of Shakespeare's plays that has toured all over the world.

Since July of 2011, MaineStage's actors - most of them based in New York during the year - have graced Maine's summer twilight with the poetry of the Bard. Local families appreciate the company both for its free performances and for ShakeSTARS, a theater education program that inspires and challenges local youth ages 5 to 16.

ShakeSTARS campers have the opportunity to write a short play to be performed as a "curtain raiser," or to take on supporting roles in the company's matinee of Complete Works. Classes include acting, improvisation, text, storytelling, stage combat and more.

In 2013, for the first time, MaineStage went on a spring tour. With a crew of nine actors and a high-energy production of the classic tragedy Macbeth, the ensemble visited schools in Kennebunk and in Westchester, NY. Students at Kennebunk's middle and high schools enjoyed hands-on classroom workshops with the actors after the performance.

As in previous years, MaineStage will perform four shows per week in beautiful Lafayette Park, in downtown Kennebunk. New for 2013, Kennebunkport will get to enjoy free Shakespeare, too! On Tuesday nights, see MaineStage at the Kennebunkport Village Green, near the corner of Ocean Av. and Green St. On Wednesday evenings, the troupe will perform in the newly dubbed Shakespeare Garden at the Colony Hotel (140 Ocean Av.).

From July 5th to August 10th, Tuesday through Saturday, MaineStage will perform its three shows in alternating repertory. Evening shows are Tuesday through Saturday (regardless of location) and begin at 7 P.M., while Saturday matinees start at 2 P.M.