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Arts & Entertainment

Wilmette Brings Shakespeare to the Green and Screen

Wilmette residents enjoyed a weekend with the English bard, as actors of the stage and screen portrayed his famous characters.

“The play's the thing…” wherein the works of William Shakespeare “caught the conscience of” Wilmette Saturday afternoon on the Village Green, “indeed…the colour of lovers.”

And who, perchance, brought such a “spritely” affair of “fire and motion?” Why, ‘twas sponsors of local note: the District 39 Educational Foundation, Wilmette Chamber of Commerce, and other establishments supporting the arts.

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Yea, with a budget of roughly $10,000, the foundation organized a month-long festival, beginning Oct. 10 and culminating on the weekend with a medley of short scenes by the playwright and a two-day Shakespeare film festival.

“There aren’t many playwrights that are big enough for an outdoor setting,” said Tim Scherman, English professor and fine arts co-chair for the foundation.

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To bring Shakespeare’s works to life with such limited time and space the foundation retained actors from First Folio Theatre Co., which is in their 15th season adapting Shakespeare's works and performing them around the Chicago suburbs, along with the Shakespeare Project of Chicago, who’ve produced more than 80 classic plays.

“We wanted to get the word out, badly, about what we do as a foundation,” Scherman said.

As actors performed an hour of street theater, which included classic dialogues and monologues from Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V and Macbeth, a young boy whispered “Can we stay till it’s over, mom?” His mom happily nodded.

“We want our kids to appreciate it,” Scherman stressed. “Sometimes we do push [Shakespeare] on them too fast, but…the best way to do it is through performance.”

The actors would often aim their lines at unsuspecting audience members. As the medley ended, Scherman told the audience about the Wilmette Theater’s film festival, which ran adaptations all weekend, including Richard III, starring Ian McKellen and set in 1930s England and Romeo and Juliet, a breakthrough role for young Leonardo Dicaprio.

“I think that when you experience Shakespeare, it’s all about receiving and transmitting,” said theater co-owner Carole Dibo. “The language just becomes second nature.”

Chad Byers, the theater’s film buyer, said plays and movies may be two different experiences, but he doesn’t necessarily prefer one over the other.

“You’re obviously expecting a whole different experience when you go to see a movie than when you go to see a show,” Byers said.

Scherman conceded Shakespeare's works can be hard to get used to.

“You have to adjust yourself, your ear has to adjust itself,” he said. “If you just get past those two minutes, suddenly everything makes sense, and that’s for anyone.”

Lede Sources: All's Well That Ends Well, Hamlet and Love's Labour's Lost.

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