College of Southern Nevada schedules theater festival

Middle and high school student groups are invited to experience live theater, as the College of Southern Nevada's Performing Arts Center presents its 13th annual SchoolFest Feb. 4-15.

Special 75-minute performances of the Utah Shakespearean Festival's traveling educational production of "Romeo and Juliet" will be staged at 9:20 a.m. Feb. 4-8 and Feb. 11-15 in the Nicholas J. Horn Theatre on the college's Cheyenne Campus, 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave.

The cost is $5 per student. Advance reservations are required as seating is limited for some performances. For more information, call 651-4700.

A visit to SchoolFest includes a 15-minute informal post-show discussion with the actors. Groups may opt to attend 45-minute workshops in Stage Combat, Performing Shakespeare's Text and Developing Character Through Improvisation.

"For many students, this is their first time to be in a performing arts venue, let alone to be able to enjoy Shakespeare with their peers at these unique theater performances," says SchoolFest Coordinator Sue Smuskiewicz. "We have good participation from the school district, but we also extend the invitation to private schools and homeschool students."

The Utah Shakespearean Festival touring company is a professional team of actors and theater artists.

The actors, along with a full complement of costumes, sets and theatrical lighting, travel for 15 weeks each year to schools throughout Utah, Idaho, Arizona and Nevada as part of the 2008 Shakespeare in the Schools program.