Two Gentlemen of Verona and King Arthur to visit Starr Jaycee Park for 10th Annual Shakespeare in The Park in Royal Oak

Water Works Theatre company proudly announces that its tenth anniversary production will be Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona directed by Barton Bund. The theatre company will also present Lane Riosley's The Commedia King Arthur and expand its popular kids camp, KidsAct! to include a program for Teens. All three programs will take place during the 10th Annual Shakespeare In The Park in Royal Oak , July 22 - August 8 in Starr Jaycee Park - 1101 West 13 Mile Road , Royal Oak MI 48073 . Tickets for both shows ($6-$18) and registration for the KidsAct! kids camps ($175 per child) are now available online at www.waterworkstheatre.com, A complete performance schedule follows this release.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona will cap Water Works Theatre Company 's tenth annual production in Starr Jaycee Park and the theatre's 9th Shakespeare play. The milestone production will be directed by Barton Bund, the Founding Artistic Director of Ann Arbor's award-winning Blackbird Theatre. His previous directing credits include his original musicals The Glob and Patty Hearst, as well as Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, How the Other Half Loves, the Blackbird's all African-American Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Battery, and his adaptations of D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow and Women in Love. A graduate of Eastern Michigan University , Bart is also a nominee for the Williamstown Theatre Festival's L. Arnold Weissberger Award for excellence in playwriting, former staff writer for Mosaic Youth Theatre, and a Purple Rose Theatre Playmaker Playwright. He currently lives in Ann Arbor with his family and their menagerie. The Two Gentlemen of Verona will play in Royal Oak 's Starr Jaycee Park ( 1101 West 13 Mile Road ) July 22 - August 8. Tickets are $18 for any performance and are available now online at www.waterworkstheatre.com. A complete performance schedule follows this release.

In addition to its Shakespeare production, Water Works Theatre Company will present its second commedia show geared especially for children. Frannie Sheppard-Bates, founder of Detroit 's Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company, will direct Lane Riosley's The Commedia King Arthur Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and Saturday and Sunday mornings on the Starr Jaycee Park stage July 27 - August 8. Tickets are $6 for any performance and are available now online at www.waterworkstheatre.com. A complete performance schedule follows this release.

Water Works Theatre Company is also excited to announce that it is expanding its popular kids camp program, KidsAct! to include a course of study for teenagers in grades 9-12.KidsAct! Teen is a dynamic young actor training program for serious acting-minded youth entering grades 9-12. Over the five day camp, July 26 -30, students will stretch their creativity through exposure to the best of Shakespeare, theatre, movement, safe combat, improv, scene work and even directing techniques. This program will culminate in a free-admission live show on our professional stage.

Since 2002 Water Works has offered KidsAct!, an amazing opportunity for performance-minded students entering grades 1-8. Water Works' professional staff, lead by KidsAct! program director Lisa Melinn, will encourage students confidence and inspire their creative expression while learning the basics of Shakespeare, safe stage combat, dance, memorization, improv and scene work. This year's five-day camp will take place August 2-6.

KidsAct! registration is $175 per student and is being taken now online at www.waterworkstheatre.com.

Since 2001, Water Works Theatre Company has produced eight Shakespeare plays, one Neil Simon comedy, an award-winning drama about the plight and story of Iraqi women, a commedia show for kids, and eight summers of KidsAct! outdoor performance workshops. Those productions were: A Midsummer Night's Dream (2001), Taming of The Shrew (2002), Much Ado About Nothing (2003), Twelfth Night (2004), As You Like It (2005), Comedy of Errors (2006), Barefoot In The Park (2007), Romeo & Juliet (2008), Heather Raffo's 9 Parts of Desire (2007 & 2008), Macbeth (2009) and The Commedia Robin Hood by Lane Riosley (2009).

Water Works Theatre Company, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional theatre company that provides professional caliber experience to the emerging professional theatre artist. The company is proud to be presenting its 10th annual Skakespeare in the Park in Royal Oak without the aid of local tax payer dollars. For more information log on to: www.waterworkstheatre.com.

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