Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival School Residency Program, “PlayPower,” Provides Direction, Set & Costumes for William Allen High School Students to Perform Much Ado About Nothing

After performing Much Ado About Nothing for more than 14,000 students in schools throughout Pennsylvania, the professional actors on the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s Linny Fowler WillPower Tour will give their set and costumes to a group of 25 students at William Allen High School (WAHS) to perform their own production for the community.

Rather than relegate the costumes and set from the WillPower Tour to storage, the Allen students are giving them a second life. The public is invited to attend the students’ performance of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in the WAHS Black Box Theatre on Thursday December 4, Friday December 5, and Saturday December 6 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $7; students and senior citizens, $5. All tickets may be purchased at the door.

Audiences are welcome to stay for a brief talkback session with the student performers and their director following each performance. The entrance to the Black Box Theatre is located on the corner of 17th and Linden Streets thru the Annex Building front doors. The school address is 126 N. 17th St. Allentown, PA 18104.

The performances are the culmination of an intensive after-school program called “PlayPower,” an innovation created by PSF’s Education Director Erin Mullen. Mullen, who also directed the tour and has subsequently rehearsed the play with the William Allen students for the last four weeks, says the students are rising to the challenge and deftly handling Shakespeare’s language: “They work hard in rehearsal and hold high standards for each other and for themselves. The quality of their acting continues to impress me,” she says. “They don’t settle. They constantly explore Shakespeare’s text to gain understanding and insight. This partnership between PSF and William Allen is truly exceptional.”

John Sechler, Director of the Theatre Academy at Allen, has worked side by side with Mullen serving as the Assistant Director. “I am learning just as much from this project as the kids and I look forward to directing Shakespeare myself here at Allen,” he says, noting that Shakespeare’s lyricism is also great preparation for the students planning to audition for Allen’s spring musical, Pippin, which will be performed April 23, 24, and 25 on Allen’s Main Stage.

The young cast prepared for this experience by attending the “home” performance of the professional PSF WillPower Tour on the campus of DeSales University in October. When the tour concludes on November 21, the touring actors transfer the costumes, props, and set to William Allen for the students’ production. Costumes were designed by the resident costume designer for the People’s Light and Theatre Company in Malvern, Marla Jurglanis. The set was conceived by five-time Emmy award winner Bob Phillips, who designed PSF’s set for King Lear this past summer.

Leading the cast at William Allen is senior Michael Dweck (Benedick) and sophomore Allison Saba (Beatrice). The young lovers are played by sophomore Alex Michaels (Claudio) and junior Alina Marhefka (Hero). Senior Celina Curry (Leonato), freshman Jimmy Ragan (Don Pedro), senior Elliot Ramos (Don John), sophomore Carlos Diaz (Borachio), senior Arlene Hernandez (Dogberry), junior Janelle Harvey (Verges), and sophomore Christopher Rex (Friar Francis) round out the cast.

Supporting cast includes senior Shante Grayer, juniors Chelsea Muhl (Margaret), Angel Garcia (Watch) and Ruby Swavely (Sexton), sophomores Anyssa Grayer, Emily Melendez (Ursula), freshman Jeremy Motzer (Oatcake), Veronica Moyer, Angela Quattrini (Watch), and Krissia Soto (Seacoal). Stage managers are junior Kait Samuels and senior Jerome Darden.

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University is the Official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth and a professional, not-for-profit theatre company. An independent 501 c 3 organization, PSF receives support from DeSales University and relies on contributions from individuals, government agencies, corporations and foundations. PSF is a constituent of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, and a member of the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia and the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America.

For more information, please visit www.pashakespeare.org.