Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival<\/a> will present a rarely done Shakespeare play, staging a children\u2019s show that explores \u201cRomeo and Juliet\u201d and premiering a one-day performance by two regular festival performers.<\/p>\nPSF is doing Shakespeare\u2019s little known \u201cCoriolanus\u201d through Aug. 2 in the Schubert Theatre at Labuda Center for the Performing Arts on the DeSales University campus in Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County. PSF will bring back \u201cShakespeare for Kids\u201d through Aug. 1 on the main stage of Labuda Center and at area libraries, and PSF veterans John Ahlin and Christopher Patrick Mullen will perform their “Chip and Gus, a comedy with balls” on Sunday at Schubert Theatre.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoriolanus\u201d will become the 33rd of Shakespeare\u2019s 38 plays to be produced at the festival.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The play will be performed in the festival\u2019s \u201cextreme Shakespeare\u201d style, with actors rehearsing the way it is believed Shakespeare’s company would have. Actors arrive with their lines learned, rehearse on their own without a director, raid the costume shop, and open in a matter of a few days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Geoffrey Kent<\/p>\n
Coriolanus, played by Geoffrey Kent, is a relentless warrior and a celebrated hero until his pride becomes his downfall. Once the people\u2019s champion, he becomes their greatest threat when his contempt for the masses collides with the politics of power. Shakespeare\u2019s tragedy asks \u2018What happens when a hero believes he\u2019s above those he serves?\u2019<\/p>\n
The cast features Akeem Davis, Sarah Gliko, John Hedges, Elliot Jones, Mark Thomas McKenna,\u00a0Katrina Clark, David Pica, Susan Riley Stevens, Greg Wood, Michael Covel, Ian Higgins, Mariana Marcel, Joanna Marie, Isabella Marin, Christian Tuffy, Sophia Twohig, and Alice Zelenko.<\/p>\n
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday and July 30 and 31; at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and July 29; at 2 p.m. Sunday and Aug. 1 and 2; and at 6:30 p.m. on July 28.<\/p>\n
The audience can meet the actors for an informal discussion after the July 30 show.<\/p>\n
\u201cEpilogues,\u201d a free discussion and a behind-the-scenes look at the show, will take place at 10 a.m.\u00a0on Aug. It will allow audience members to gain deeper insight and ask questions.<\/p>\n
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\u201cShakespeare For Kids,\u201d written by Erin Sheffield and directed by Matt Pfeiffer, is a high-energy one-hour production designed for children ages 4 to 10 to actively experience Shakespeare\u2019s vibrant language and characters.\u00a0Using a combination of songs, puppets, and scenes from William Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cRomeo and Juliet,\u201d four performers (Tyler Borneo, Mariana Marcel, Joanna Marie, and Teddy Novak) give families the opportunity to introduce children to Shakespeare in a welcoming, kid-friendly environment.<\/p>\n
There will be a relaxed performance on Aug. 1.<\/p>\n
Again this year, \u201cShakespeare for Kids\u201d will give free performances during a mini-tour at area libraries Friday through July 30.<\/p>\n
The mini-tour will stop at 11 a.m. on Friday at Allentown Public Library, 1210 Hamilton St., Allentown; at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Lower Macungie Library, 3450 Brookside Rd., Lower Macungie Township, Lehigh County; at 10 a.m. on Sunday at Quakertown Univest Park, 301 W. Mill St., Richland Township, Bucks County; at 10:30 a.m. on July 29 at Hellertown Library, 409 Constitution Ave., Hellertown, Northampton County; and at 10 a.m. on July 30 at Bucks County Free Library, 401 Mill St., Quakertown, Bucks County.<\/p>\n
Performances at Labuda will be at 10 a.m. Thursday and July 28, 31, and Aug. 1.<\/p>\n
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“Chip and Gus, a comedy with balls” is a new original work created and performed by John Ahlin and Christopher Patrick Mullen.<\/p>\n
Mullen plays Chip, and Ahlin plays Gus, oddball acquaintances who meet once a month to play ping-pong in the grungy back room of a sports bar in upstate New York, but this night is different.<\/p>\n
As the balls and banter fly back and forth, they discover their lives intertwine in surprising ways. Gus, a flamboyantly stoic professor of philosophy, is a socially inept genius spouting wit and pedantry, and Chip, a goofy struggling music teacher and composer, whose life is hanging by a thread, are on a collision course. Their chemistry explodes in hilarious and heart-breaking revelations, swirling into a spectacular human symphony.<\/p>\n
The show is a winner of a best overall award at the New York Fringe, and Mullen and Ahlin are taking it to the world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in August.<\/p>\n
The performance will be at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Labuda Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of DeSales University, which is located at 2755 Station Ave. in Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County.<\/p>\n
India Heritage Day<\/p>\n
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Saara Arts<\/a> will present the ninth annual India Heritage Day on Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Allentown Arts Park, which is located at 24-32 N. Fifth St.<\/p>\nThe free event will be a vibrant celebration of culture, music, dance, and community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Visitors can try flavors from Indian restaurants; hear music by a high-energy DJ; and enjoy arts workshops and henna artistry, live cultural performances, free Indian dance workshops. They can also visit vendors offering jewelry, fashion, and more.<\/p>\n
The day will culminate with a exciting finale featuring a rhythm saree showcase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lehigh County borough of Emmaus will pull out all the stops to celebrate the country\u2019s 250th birthday.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[4000,153,155,154,114,7019,3151,1137,433,7865],"class_list":["post-250402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-america-250","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-birthday","tag-concert","tag-emmaus","tag-festival","tag-lehigh-county","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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