ASU-Beebe to host 51st Annual Arkansas Shakespeare Festival

BEEBE, Ark. – The Arkansas State University-Beebe Theater Department will celebrate the 51st Annual Arkansas Shakespeare Festival with the presentation of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dreamon Friday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 4, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 5 at 2:30 p.m. at the Owen Center Auditorium. Since the primary objective of the Arkansas Shakespeare Festival is to enhance education in Arkansas, there will be special morning matinees for Arkansas students on Thursday, March 2 at 10:30 a.m. and Friday, March 3 at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. A Midsummer’s Night Dream opens with Theseus, duke of Athens, preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, with a four-day festival of pomp and entertainment. He commissions his Master of the Revels, Philostrate, to find suitable amusements for the occasion. Egeus, an Anthenian nobleman, marches into Theseus’s court with his daughter, Hermia, and two young men, Demetrius and Lysander. Egeus wishes Hermia to marry Demetrius; however, Hermia is in love with Lysander and refuses to comply. Egeus asks for the full penalty of law to fall on Hermia, if she refuses to obey her father’s wishes. Nonetheless, Hermia and Lysander plan to escape Athens the following night and marry. They make their intentions known to Hermia’s friend Helena, who was once engaged to Demetrius. Cast members include Kayla Lewis of Stuttgart, Lanie Staley of Cabot, Joshua May of Rose Bud, Emily Humphrey of Beebe, Emily Rollins of Letona, Christopher Mott of Little Rock, Elizabeth Price of Beebe, Lauren Goddard of Heber Springs, Jacob Ladyman of Searcy, Anna Dyson of Beebe, Courtney Slayton of Cabot, Rusty McPherson of Piggot, Jodi Concord of Cabot, Precious McCullough of Clarendon, and Aaron Anderson of Lonoke. The Arkansas Shakespeare Festival is one of the oldest continuous educational Shakespeare festivals in America. The festival was founded on the ASU-Beebe campus in 1966. Since then, more than 288 performances of 30 Shakespeare plays have been presented. ASU-Beebe is the only two-year college in central Arkansas that offers an Associate of Fine Arts (AFA) degree. The AFA degree has an emphasis in vocal music or instrumental music, theater, graphic design, or creative arts enterprise. This degree is a comprehensive two-year curriculum designed specifically for transfer toward a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. Seating for the theater presentation is on a first-come basis. The auditorium will open 30 minutes prior to curtain call. Tickets will be on sale one hour before show time at the door. Ticket prices are $5 for general admission and $2.50 for seniors, students, military and educators. The Owen Center Auditorium is located at 910 Pecan Street in Beebe. Schools planning to attend the special morning matinee performances should register early by calling Karly Carter at (501) 882-4495 or email kkcarter@asub.edu or sfwilliams@asub.edu . For additional information, view the ASU-Beebe website atwww.asub.edu . Arkansas State University-Beebe is an operationally separate, two-year institution of the Arkansas State University System. With campuses located in Beebe, Heber Springs, Searcy, the Little Rock Air Force Base, and online, the university offers associate degrees, certificates, and non-credit training for business and industry. The Beebe campus also collaborates with Arkansas State, a four-year university in Jonesboro, to offer baccalaureate and graduate degrees on the Beebe campus. ASU-Beebe is nationally recognized by the Aspen Institute for student success rates.