Stratford Shakespeare Festival announces Michigan Residency events beginning Nov. 10

STRATFORD, Ontario - The Stratford Shakespeare Festival heads to Michigan for a series of workshops from Nov. 10 to 19. These annual events connect Stratford actors and designers with Michigan students, teachers and institutions. This year includes a new public performance at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Festival's visit is made possible through the Michigan Education Outreach Fund, part of the Festival's For All Time Endowment Fund.

Stratford Festival actors are heavily involved in community outreach, in Canada and the U.S. "It's important for students to interact with working professionals, to give them an idea of what the world outside of school will require of them," says actor Sara Topham. "What we bring, as guest artists from Stratford, is a passionate and specific perspective on how to work on Classical texts from the inside, in the way that we have learned to do in the theater, from observing and sharing the stage with extraordinary artists."

Public events of note:

The Detroit Institute of Arts will host Stratford actors on Friday, Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., as part of the DIA's Friday Night Live! series - free with museum admission. Enjoy performances by members of the Stratford Festival's acting company, followed by an interactive Q&A session with the artists. Participating Stratford alumni include Sara Topham, Nicolas Van Burek and Tova Smith. For more information visit www.dia.org.

A favorite workshop returns this year, at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial. Stratford alumni Brad Rudy and Nicolas Van Burek conduct a stage combat workshop for middle school youth on Nov. 15 from 10:30 to noon. Cost is $22, no experience is necessary. For more information visit www.warmemorial.org.

Well-known scenic and costume designer John Pennoyer offers an art workshop at the Birmingham Bloomfield Arts Center on Nov. 16 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. (ages 10 to 16) and 3 to 4:30 p.m. (ages 17 and up). This $35 course (plus $5 material fee) is open to the public and includes everything needed to design, create and bring to life woodblock-cut parade animals. Space is limited. Participants are asked to bring a sketchbook. For more information visit www.bbartcenter.org.

Private events during the week include interactive Shakespeare workshops in East Lansing, Michigan State University and Detroit-area high schools. Festival actors will also facilitate the development of theater skills with students at the Mosaic Youth Theatre.

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is a repertory, not-for-profit, theater festival, permanently located in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Its mission is to produce, to the highest standards possible, the best works of theater in the classical and contemporary repertoire, with special emphasis on the works of William Shakespeare. Each year the Festival welcomes between 500,000 and 600,000 visitors from across the world.

For more information visit www.stratfordshakespearefestival.com