Liberty Bell Drama Company students rehearsed “The Laramie Project” at TwispWorks.
‘The Laramie Project’ opens this week
Live theater makes a long-awaited return to the Methow Valley this week when the Liberty Bell High School Drama Company presents “The Laramie Project” on the outdoor TwispWorks Pavilion.
The play will be staged Wednesday (May 19) through Saturday (May 22), at 7 p.m. each day, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday (May 23). Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for those 18 and younger. Purchase tickets in advance at www.mercplayhouse.org.
Attendees will be encouraged to bring a blanket or lawn chair and plan to sit with members of their own household. Audience members must wear masks and will be socially distanced.
“The Laramie Project” is a 2000 play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project. It chronicles the reaction to the 1998 murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. The play draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theater company with inhabitants of the town, company members’ own journal entries, and published news reports.
The play, directed by Kelly Grayum and Danbert Nobacon, is rated PG-13 for language and some “disturbing imagery,” according to information provided by the high school.
Chamber music update
Want to know what the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival folks have been up to while its concert series has been canceled for 2021? Visit the organization’s website, https://methowmusicfestival.org, to view a video presentation by Executive Director Liz Johnson.
Brooks presents violin recital
Liberty Bell High School senior Keeley Brooks offers a free violin recital from 3 – 5 p.m. at the TwispWorks Pavilion on May 29.
Brooks, 17, has been playing the violin for 11 1/2 years, and studied with local teacher Pam Hunt. In 2013, she was the first winner of the Christine Cherrington Merit Award Competition, and in 2018 was a silver medalist in a strings division of the Spokane MusicFest Northwest Competition. In 2018, she won the Wenatchee Symphony’s Angela Schuster Svendsen Memorial Young Musician Competition and made her concerto debut.
Please wear a mask, bring your own chair or blanket, and observe social distancing.
Merc summer theater camp
The Merc Playhouse will offer a summer theater camp this June with the theme “Reimagined Tales as Old as Time.”
The camp will take place from June 28 to July 2 in three groups — students entering grades nine through 12 will practice from 9 a.m. to noon or 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., students entering grades five through eight will practice from 9 a.m. to noon and students entering grades second through fourth will practice from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Final performances will take place on Saturday, July 3, at the TwispWorks Pavilion.
Most camp activities will take place outdoors and students are asked to wear comfortable clothing and shoes, and wear a mask. Students should also bring water and a snack.
Information on registering is available at mercplayhouse.org. Tuition costs $150 with a $50 deposit at registration. Some scholarships are available.
