The city is unfolding the outdoor theatre props and costumes that tend to go with summer Shakespeare productions. Audiences can unfold their picnic blankets and lawn cushions for their spot in the action.
All over the world, major centres give a summer spotlight to the great bard, and this year Prince George joins them.
There will be two performances of Shakespeare Unfolded, one Friday and one Saturday. Both shows are on the lawns of City Hall and both shows open at 7 p.m. Admission is by donation.
This original and all-local theatre production was built in the spirit of William Shakespeare and using his own words. It was conceived, written and directed by one of Canada's most recognized young Shakespearean actors, Lauren Brotman (recipient of the Christopher Plummer Fellowship Award, presented by Plummer himself, that included an intensive training stint at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in England). She created the play in celebration of Prince George's 100th anniversary as a municipality - the municipality she and her young family moved to a year ago.
The play stars Brotman, David Leach, Emily MacLise, Paige Marriott and Anna Russell with musicians Curtis Abriel and Miguel Mori also involved in the performance. There will be some special surprise guests as well.
In addition to the performance of the play, Brotman added a physical art component, which will be on display as a feature of SummerFest on Sunday. It is called The Memory Tree. Anyone from the public will be invited to write memories of Prince George on pieces of paper (symbolizing the pulp industry so large in our local economy) that will be tied to the tree (symbolizing both the dominant lumber industry and the environmental root of our community's existence here) where it will be exposed to the elements (symbolizing our connectedness to story, environment and time).
For more information on these city hall arts features, visit Brotman's website at www.boundtocreate.com or look the project up on Facebook.
