Shakespeare group at perform at WHS

In March, students at Wahkiakum High School will get to experience “The Theatre” when the Seattle Shakespeare Company comes to town.

Most of the cost has been covered by a scholarship, but the school still needs to raise $500 as well as provide lodging and meals.

“The goal of the Seattle Shakespeare Company is to bring classical theater to rural areas,” said Wahkiakum High School Principal Stephanie Leitz. “The kids are excited. Our English teacher, Audrey Petterson, believes in the importance of the classics and wants students to have those foundational skills and exposure to literature. We want to expose kids to the same things they would get at a bigger school.”

The company will be in Cathlamet March 16 and 17 to provide an Introduction to Shakespeare workshop on the first day and a performance of “MacBeth”, superstitiously referred to as “The Scottish Play” on the second.

The sophomore class is getting ready by reading the play.

“I think it would be a good idea for something like this to come to such a small community school,” Morgan Bashore, a freshman interested in classic literature and acting said. “There isn’t much exposure to much literature, the classics, no matter how hard the english teachers try to bring it in. I think it would be cool for people to see into the window of past literature and how much Shakespeare has influenced the evolution of it as a whole.”

For more information or to make a donation, contact the Wahkiakum High School office at 360-795-3271.