The 20th Annual Fall Festival of Shakespeare kicks off tomorrow evening at Founders’ Theatre. Twenty directors enter ten high schools to produce ten full productions of Shakespeare, involving over five hundred students—and they perform together in just four days.

The Fall Festival was recently featured in an article in the Berkshire Eagle (available online for two weeks), in which it was noted that

For directors, parents and other adults, the festival is a chance to see students come alive.

“There’s something transcendental about the language. I mean, they’re still kids. They’re still teenagers. But during the festival weekend, they scream like it’s a rock concert. They know all the plays and they get all the dirty Elizabethan jokes,” said Dorothy French, a parent.

Shakespeare & Company Director of Education Kevin Coleman speaks about the program in the Berkshire Record, explaining, “We are very interested in firing up the imagination of the students, taking their ideas and seeing how it would work. It is a very different style of directing.” He goes on to say

…it is the things beyond theater that the participants learn, including self confidence, teamwork and public speaking skills, that makes the program a success. “I think they learn important lessons in cooperation and all the other important life skills you can’t teach in a classroom.” Coleman said.

Read the full article at the Berkshire Record’s website. You can read and see more about the Festival here and here. And don’t forget to buy your tickets now for this milestone event.