Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre starts 13th season
The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre opens its 13th season with the Bard of Avon’s The Comedy of Errors, 7:30 p.m. Friday-June 9 on the lawn in front of McAlister Hall at the University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway.
Additional performances of the Shakespeare comedy, which involves two sets of identical twins and lots of mistaken identities, will be at 7:30 p.m. June 23, 26 and 29 and July 4. Admission is pay-what-you-can; suggested donation is $15.
The lineup for the rest of the summer theater festival, through July 7 (except as noted, all shows in Reynolds Performance Hall on the UCA campus):
■ Frank Loesser’s musical Guys and Dolls, 7:30 p.m. June 15, 25, 28, July 2; 2 and 7:30 p.m. June 23 and 30 and July 6; 2 p.m. July 4
■ Shakespeare’s Macbeth, 7:30 p.m. June 21-22, 27, July 3 and 5; 2 p.m. June 29 and July 7 ■ A one-hour family adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, 2 p.m. June 26, 28, July 2 and 4; 11 a.m. June 29. The show will then tour the state.
Two-play packages (Guys and Dolls and Macbeth) are $50, $60 to add Romeo and Juliet. Individual tickets for Guys and Dolls and Macbeth are $34, $28 for students, senior citizens and military; for Romeo and Juliet, $15 and $12.50. Call (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012 or visit arkshakes.com.
Preserving plantation
Tommy Jameson, lead architect for the restoration of the Taylor House, a two-story, dogtrot-style house built in 1846 at Hollywood Plantation in Drew County, will discuss the structure’s past, present and future for the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies’ Legacies & Lunch session, noon Wednesday in the Darragh Center, Central Arkansas Library System Main Library, 100 Rock St., Little Rock. Admission is free. Attendees can tote their own lunches; the Butler Center provides beverages and dessert. Call (501) 320-5700.
Occupied by the Taylor family until the 1940s, the house was donated in 2012 by John Hancock of El Campo, Texas, to the University of Arkansas at Monticello for historical research and interpretation. The university began restoring the house and adjacent grounds to how they appeared in the earliest known photographs, funded by nearly $1.8 million in grants by the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission.
Preservation prizes
Winners of the the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program’s Preserve Our Past Essay contest, grades 5-6, are Lainey White, first place; Isaac Theis, second place; Logan Adams, third place; and Jaxon Reynolds, honorable mention, all from Greenbrier Westside Elementary.
The winners of the Preserve Our Past art contest for grades 5-6: Juan Vargas, first place, Cloverdale Middle School; Rome Foster, second place, Pulaski Academy; Abbi Flieger, third place, Greenbrier Westside Elementary; Avery Williams, honorable mention, Sheridan Intermediate School.
Art contest winners, grades 7-8: Katelyn Paige Ledbetter, first place, Greenwood Jr. High School; and, all from Cloverdale Middle School: Jasmine Valladares, second place; Avery Purifoy, third place; and Katherine Rodriguez, honorable mention.
The winning entries are on exhibit until the end of June at Little Rock’s Historic Arkansas Museum.
The program also announced the winners of the Arkansas Historic Places Student Film Prize, sponsored by the Historic Preservation Program and the Quapaw Quarter Association, in partnership with Arkansas Educational Television Network’s “Student Selects: A Young Filmmaker’s Showcase.” It features documentaries made by students in grades 5-12, 5-15 minutes long, about a building, archaeological site or other historically significant site 50 years old or older:
Grand prize, Abdullah Aldhamen, Charlie Baker and Victor Keas, Fayetteville High School, for Stories From the Old State House: Isaac Murphy; first prize: RaLynnda March of Cave City High School for Henry Rowe Schoolcraft; second prize: Chase Hartsell of Lakeside High School for Preserving America’s Pastime; third prize: Tanner Ward and John Sutterfield of Lakeside High School for The Dugan Stuart Building; fourth prize: Carter Gray and Ian Linn of Fayetteville High School for Dogpatch, USA; honorable mentions for Evan Meyers of Lakeside High School for Life Through the Eyes of Another Generation; Grace Pair, Hannah Garriott and Andrew Parmele of Fayetteville High School for Battle of Fayetteville; Kami Pendergraft, Anna Price, and Abbie Harrison of Fayetteville High School for their film Crescent Hotel.
Winning films, showcased May 13 at Little Rock’s at Ron Robinson Theater, will be considered for inclusion in the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in October. Winners receive cash awards, trophy and participation certificate.
Rebellion auditions
The Weekend Theater, West Seventh and Chester streets, Little Rock, will hold auditions for Anthony Mariani’s The Rooster Rebellion, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. June 15 and 6-8 p.m. June 16 with the playwright directing. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script; character descriptions and sample scenes are available at tinyurl.com/ y6ctgzpv. Rehearsals start July 27. Production dates are Aug. 30-Sept.1 and Sept. 6-8. Email the playwright/director at marianifilms@gmail.com.