Teen Summer ShakesPEERS Perform Twelfth Night

(Photo courtesy of The Shakespeare Theatre Company)

Summer youth employment programs have been getting a bad rap in DC lately, but there are some youth who are learning valuable skills.

Summer ShakesPEERS is a summer youth employment program  conducted by The Shakespeare Theatre Company, in partnership with the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation. Teens ages 14-19 are given the opportunity to study and rehearse and then perform a Shakspeare play. All performances are free and open to the public.

You can see the results of this years Summer ShakesPEERS workshop this Friday evening at THEARC (The Town Hall Education, Arts & Recreation Campus), when teens perform Twelfth Night. They already performed at the Chevy Chase Community Center earlier this week.

 If it seems like you've been hearing the name of that particular play lately, that is because Ann Hathaway has been starring in a summer production of it in New York City and DC's own Shakespeare Theatre Company also staged Twelfth Night this past winter.

In Shakespeare's day, Twelfth Night was the culmination of an in-between time that marked the days between Christmas and New Year's; surely teen actors can have an appreciation for an in-between time when people party and want to bend the rules.

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Summer ShakesPEERS presents Twelfth Night

Friday, August 14, 7 p.m.

 THEARC

 1901 Mississippi Avenue SE