SITS to Offer Talk Back After GOOD IN EVERYTHING, 9/18-20

A talk back will be held following the Friday night performance of the third annual Shakespeare in the Streets production, Good in Everything, scheduled Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 18-20, on Central Avenue in downtown Clayton. The talk back will focus on civic duty and education equality. It will be held from 9:15 to 10:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19.

The play, Good in Everything, is inspired in part by the Clayton School District's historic Voluntary Desegregation program, which began in 1983 and subsequently served as a model for all the suburban St. Louis school districts. The talk back will be moderated by Dr. Jong Bum Kwon of FOCUS St. Louis.

Dr. Kwon is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Chair of Multicultural Studies at Webster University. Panelists will include Dr. Jonathan Smith, Assistant Professor of African American Studies at Saint Louis University; Dr. B. Remy Cross, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Webster University; SFSTL playwright-in-residence Nancy Bell; Kayla Thompson of Teach for America and additional guests.

The hour-long, free play will feature live music by a string ensemble from Clayton High School, as well as video projection mapping created by St. Louisan DJ Raven Fox. Central Avenue will be closed to traffic from Forsyth to Maryland from 6 to 10 p.m. nightly; show time is 8 p.m. Parking will be available on the surrounding streets. Patrons are encouraged to bring their own chairs; seating will be limited. Audience members are encouraged to stay after the show to participate in the discussion.

Maalik Shakoor, 19, a St. Louis resident and Clayton High School graduate, is one of several students in the cast. He will play the role of Orlando. Caroline Amos, graduate of the Festival's education programs and student of Webster University's Conservatory of Theater Arts, will play opposite Shakoor as Rosalind. Professional actors include Michael James Reed in the role of Mr. Frederick and Wendy Greenwood as Phoebe, both of whom have appeared in previous Festival productions. Khnemu Menu-Ra and Kelley Weber, Drama Teacher at Clayton High School, have also appeared in past Festival productions and round out the remaining professionals in the show. Weber's daughter, Hannah, a junior at the high school, is another cast member. Clayton resident, Gary Feder, attorney with HuschBlackwell and former member of the Clayton Board of Education, will play the role of Jack.

Support for SITS programming is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts Art Works. SITS 2014 is made possible by generous contributions from the City of Clayton and the Clayton Century Foundation.

In the past 15 years, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis has attracted more than 640,000 people to its annual free performances in Forest Park. The organization has reached 270,000 students through its educational programming and, in 2010, launched SHAKE 38, a marathon citywide presentation of Shakespeare's entire 38-play canon. With support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Regional Arts Commission, SHAKE38.com launched on April 23, 2014, Shakespeare's 450th birthday. For more information, please visit www.sfstl.com or call 314/531-9800.