An interactive group reading of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale.

Led by veteran actor, founder of Steamboat's Great American Laughing Stock Company and Piknik Theater producer Stuart Handloff, this play reading group is for literary fans and aspiring thespians alike.  The emphasis is on enjoyment of The Winter's Tale  -- discussing, reading excerpts together and learning about the playwright and his world. The one-night workshop is designed for participation by everyone. Spend an evening studying the play before it is performed live during Piknik Theatre on the Library Lawn in July!

ABOUT The Winter's Tale
The Winter's Tale, one of Shakespeare's very late plays, is filled with improbabilities. Before the conclusion, one character comments that what we are about to see, "Were it but told you, should be hooted at / Like an old tale."

It includes murderous passions, man-eating bears, princes and princesses in disguise, death by drowning and by grief, oracles, betrayal, and unexpected joy. Yet the play, which draws much of its power from Greek myth, is grounded in the everyday. A "winter's tale" is one told or read on a long winter's night. Its shift from tragedy to comedy, disguises, and startling exits and transformations seem addressed to theater audiences.

Shakespeare is thought to have written The Winter’s Tale in 1609–11; it was performed at the Globe in May 1611 and at court that November. It was published in the 1623 First Folio.

WANT TO JOIN The Winter's Tale  READING GROUP?
The workshop is limited to 25 participants.Everyone is asked to commit to the reading and attend the one-night session. As this is a full evening that runs through the dinner hour, it is suggested that everyone bring a finger-food snack to share with the group.

To sign up, you must contact Adult Programs Coordinator Jennie Lay directly by email or by calling 879-0240 x 317. Once your space is confirmed, further information will follow.

The Library will provide copies of The Winter's Tale  to loan to all participants. It is requested that participants read the play before the workshop on May 22.

About GALSCO
The Great American Laughing Stock Company is a nonprofit summer repertory theatre company in Steamboat Springs, whose mission is to enhance and diversify the performing arts in the Yampa Valley region. GALSCO does theatre outdoors, in a picnic setting, through partnerships with local performers and guest artists from the finest New Zealand conservatories, to build a spirit of community. Community means theatre that touches all ages, abilities, cultures, including genres from Shakespeare to Seuss, and is indelibly printed with the values of the Yampa Valley.

Originally founded in 1971, the Company was resurrected in the summer of 2005 and has continued to produce shows each summer, as well as holding classes and workshops for local middle school and elementary aged students during the school year. Led by Stuart Handloff, a director with 38 years of theatrical experience and a master's degree from the New Zealand National Drama School.