ROYAL OAK, Mich. – For nearly 20 years at the corner of 13 Mile and Crooks roads in Royal Oak, a band of merry players has brought the works of William Shakespeare to life with their performances.
This year, the Shakespeare in the Park performances will be canceled for the first time ever. Residents won’t be able to watch the plays, but they will have an opportunity to become one of the players off-stage.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) forced the company to cancel its season for the first time, but in many ways, the show must go on.
Instead of acting, the public is invited to channel Shakespeare in a grand pivot: workshops. The company is offering a virtual summer camp for children and adults as it teaches its craft with the Virtual Bard series of online workshops.
Various workshops are open for registration now through Monday. There are limited virtual class sizes, though more can be added throughout the summer. But the dividend is high schoolers getting a jump on their required reading lists, adults having fun and children being entertained during Zoom conference calls.
There are four different workshop series for different age groups. Click here to register for the workshops.