March 5th, 1-4 pm in the beautiful upstairs space of the Glen Ellyn Public Library will be our first Shakespeare Reader’s Theatre event in 2016. The GEPL will have some printed books available for participants, but folks are also welcome to download a copy onto their tablets or kindles.
What is Shakespeare Reader’s Theatre? The works of William Shakespeare are beautifully written, but many aren’t aware of how much fun they are to read and to act. Everyone old enough to read Shakespeare is welcome to join us—everyone present will have at least some part in the work (and maybe two or three 😉 ). No experience or preparation is needed (though it can be helpful to watch some free performances of the plays beforehand). We’re there to have fun, stretch ourselves a little, and enjoy the Bard’s great work.
I found a site that shows the characters by number of lines:
| Character | Gender | Lines |
| BOTTOM | Male | 255 |
| THESEUS | Male | 235 |
| HELENA | Female | 230 |
| OBERON | Male | 225 |
| PUCK | Male | 206 |
| LYSANDER | Male | 179 |
| HERMIA | Female | 164 |
| TITANIA | Female | 141 |
| DEMETRIUS | Male | 136 |
| QUINCE | Male | 121 |
| FLUTE | Male | 57 |
| EGEUS | Male | 41 |
| HIPPOLYTA | Female | 35 |
| FAIRY | Male | 28 |
| PHILOSTRATE | Male | 24 |
| SNOUT | Male | 22 |
| CHORUS | Male | 14 |
| SNUG | Male | 14 |
| STARVELING | Male | 11 |
| FIRST FAIRY | Male | 8 |
| MUSTARDSEED | Male | 5 |
| PEASEBLOSSOM | Male | 4 |
| COBWEB | Male | 4 |
| SECOND FAIRY | Male | 2 |
| MOTH | Male | 2 |
| ALL FAIRIES | Male | 1 |
| ALL MECHANICALS | Male | 1 |
As you can see, there are many parts (and we will share some of them during the timespan). Come on out to have fun, do something creative, stretch your boundaries, and reinvigorate your creative writing core. You don’t have to commit to the whole three hours—come join us any time during this span.