SHAKE38 Kicks off Friday April 19

From truck beds and parking garages to the canoes in the Grand Basin at Forest Park, William Shakespeare's words will electrify the city with the fourth annual SHAKE38 which kicks off this Friday (April 19) and culminates on the Bard's 449th birthday on Tuesday, April 23.

New to this year's line-up will be a series of Blind Shakes in which members of the community are invited to a designated location and encouraged to participate in a reading of a play. The script to be read will be distributed on site.

A few highlights this year will include the Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble performing "Much Ado About Nothing" in the canoes near the suspension bridge at the Forest Park Grand Basin; the Blind Pigs (St. Louis' underground dining society) performing a scene from "Henry V" at Rung and Sprung (9739 Manchester Rd.); and alumni from Prison Performing Arts performing "Hamlet" at the Penthouse at Plush.

The citywide marathon reading/performance of Shakespeare's 38-play canon is limited only by one's imagination. Last year, more than 300 St. Louisans recreated Shakespeare's work in various settings. They danced, painted, sketched, and sang their way through the Bard's repertoire in locations as varied as a downtown parking garage, a prison and a Steak 'n Shake restaurant, to name a few.

For more information, please visit www.sfstl.com or call 314/531-9800.