Keep up your bright swords!

*Originally published in Worcester Magazine on Jul 12, 2012

The Worcester Shakespeare Company’s seventh-annual Worcester Shakespeare Festival, which has been held at the Green Hill Park Memorial Amphitheatre in the past, is making a move to bring Shakespeare to life this year on the Plaza at The Whitin Mill in Blackstone Valley starting Friday, July 13.

The Worcester Shakespeare Company’s seventh-annual Worcester Shakespeare Festival, which has been held at the Green Hill Park Memorial Amphitheatre in the past, is making a move to bring Shakespeare to life this year on the Plaza at The Whitin Mill in Blackstone Valley starting Friday, July 13.

The Worcester Shakespeare Company is comprised of professional actors from New York to Boston, as well as local acting, design, costume and makeup talent from right here in the community.

Alternatives Inc., the festival’s new organizer, is a nonprofit organization that provides services for adults with developmental and psychiatric disabilities. The renovated Whitin Mill hosts a theater and art gallery and partners with several theater groups. Working toward its mission of helping individuals with disabilities to find valued roles in the community, this effort provides opportunities for the people who Alternative Inc. serves to get to know community members and form reciprocal relationships.

Tom Saupe, director of community outreach, is very excited for this opportunity. “Alternatives is thrilled to have the Worcester Shakespeare Company performing on the Whitin Mill Community Plaza this summer. We host and partner with many groups to provide theater, concerts and gallery exhibits that people of all abilities can enjoy together,” adds Saupe.

“We will always be grateful to our Green Hill Park audience for the first nine years of the company. As far as I’m concerned, we will always be known as the Worcester Shakespeare Company. Worcester is our birthplace and our true home; no matter how far into nearby locations we travel,” says Mel Cobb, who is the producing artistic director and will also play the leading role of Othello.

The audience can expect a similar vibe to what they experienced at the Memorial Amphitheatre in Green Hill Park. That is, the glory of natural light, natural sounds and a setting that is truly integrated into the production of the play,” explains Cobb. “They can also expect a bit more comfortable environment when it comes to necessary facilities. Otherwise, they will experience the same quality and commitment to Shakespeare that Worcester Shakespeare Company has always provided.”

Othello was chosen as this year’s production for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it hasn’t been performed in the area recently; and secondly, because the new performance area will complement the period setting in which Othello takes place. In addition to the outdoor performance area, which is reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the Worcester Shakespeare Company will now have access to an indoor theater facility as well. The Singh Theatre is now at their disposal, just as Shakespeare had the indoor Blackfriar Theatre. The Singh Theatre is at the same location and can be used in case of inclement weather.

“Othello” opens on Friday, July 13, and will run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m. through August 19. For a complete list of performance dates, directions, and box office information, visit worcestershakespearecompany.org.

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