Kirk Players celebrates Shakespeare's best works

In association with "First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare," a national touring exhibition hosted by Lake County Discovery Museum, Kirk Players will present "Sounds and Sweet Aires."

Performances will be Saturday, Feb. 6, at 2 p.m. at the museum in Lakewood Forest Preserve near Wauconda, and Saturday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Mundelein High School, 1355 W. Hawley St., Mundelein.

In celebration of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, both performances are free. Seating at Discovery Museum is limited.

Jon L. Lynn, president of the troupe and director of "Sounds and Sweet Aires," a collage of Shakespeare's most memorable scenes from "Hamlet," "Midsummer Night's Dream," "The Taming of the Shrew" and others, has seen success with the program throughout his directing career at colleges and local high schools.

"When Paddy (artistic director for Kirk Players) and I got out of college, we wanted to create a classic piece that we could draw on throughout our theater careers. So we leaned on the Bard himself. At Mundelein High School and Barrington High School, 'Sounds and Sweet Aires' fared very well in statewide competition with other schools throughout Illinois. When this opportunity with Discovery Museum arose, it was a natural to perform 'Sounds and Sweet Aires,'" Lynn said.

The 60-minute, fast-paced, lighthearted program combines some famous comic scenes with sonnets dramatized as active monologues and spans the entire Shakespearean spectrum, from bright to bawdy, romantic to raucous.

"We fashioned the title from a quote from 'The Tempest' ... 'The isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet aires that give delight ...' and delight is exactly what the audience will feel as they enjoy this great author's finest work," Lynn said.

The program features local Kirk Players members and guests Nick Ahlstrand, Jeff Griffith, Catie Hein, Meghan Lane, Robert Markle, Jon Matousek, Amy Sharer and Fred Vipond. Mike Lieberman aids Jon Lynn as stage manager.

As another tribute to celebrating Shakespeare, Kirk Players will lead a 60-minute workshop titled "A Play On Words," hosted by Fremont Public Library, 1170 N. Midlothian Road, Mundelein, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10. In the workshop, attendees will incorporate Shakespearean words into small group skits. All ages are welcome.

Visit www.kirkplayers.org for more information.

"First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare," a traveling exhibit of rare Shakespeare works, makes its only appearance in Illinois from Feb. 3-28 at the Discovery Museum.

The museum is working with 28 local and statewide partners, and a reading program has been established in which public libraries are offering Shakespeare-related reading programs in support of the exhibition, organizers have said.

The First Folio is a compilation of 36 of Shakespeare's plays published in 1623, seven years after the English author's death.