My Nonprofit Reviews

I'm Essy Dean & this original appeared in the November 2010 issue of the Monterey News & the November 2010 issue of The Bold Eagle, the Mount Everett Student Newspaper

The ripple of 500 excited students has run through the halls of Founder’s Theatre and out the doors into the general public of Massachusetts and New York State every year for the past twenty-one years.
“Fall Festival rocks,” says former student Nina Scibelli, who now attends Bard College at Simon’s Rock.
Fall Festival started when Shakespeare & Company was doing residencies at only Lenox Memorial High School and Mt. Greylock Regional High School.
When asked about the founding of Fall Festival two years ago, Kevin Coleman, Director of Education said: “The idea started when Lenox and Mt. Greylock were both staging Shakespeare plays.” The two shows were performed back-to-back and transformed from those two schools into what is now known as Fall Festival of Shakespeare.
Shakespeare & Company, which is up in Lenox, MA, decided that they should sponsor a program that was uncompetitive and fun for everyone. It has been a success and now every year, the weekend before Thanksgiving ten schools located in Massachusetts and New York State come to Shakespeare & Company in Lenox and perform their plays for Shakespeare & Company, the other nine schools, their friends and family and the local community. Auditions took place in late September and now the cast, crew and directors can’t wait to be the show-offs for two nights.
“Fall Festival is basically the highlight of my year.” Says Mount Everett senior Zoe Laiz. “Mt. Everett is so lucky in that high schoolers and middle schoolers alike can audition. The Fall Festival is a big community- maybe even family- that is supportive, fun and really welcoming. And believe it or not, Shakespeare is way cooler than you might think.”
This year Mount Everett Regional High School performed Much Ado About Nothing.
“Shakespeare & Co. in general has done an amazing job in making Shakespeare's text fun and alive for anyone who is willing to try.” Says Mount Everett senior Kayla Alden. “The knowledge, the experience, and the abilities I have gained because of Fall Festival are tools that I will be able to use for the rest of my life.”

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