‘Tis the season for the Lethbridge Shakespeare Performance Society’s annual Shakespeare Meets Dickens fundraising event, which is a Tudor/Victorian Christmas celebration Dec. 19.
The festive event will feature songs, scenes, Christmas food and drinks, a candy and cash bar and costumes are most definitely encouraged.
Society President Kate Connolly says the first event was held in 2016. “We’ve been doing it for a while. It’s a mix of singers, dance performances, a scene or two from Shakespeare plus a shortened Reader’s Theatre version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.”
Singers, Connolly notes, are graduates of the University of Lethbridge opera program, and two singers are members of the Lethbridge Little Opera Company. “But they won’t be singing opera. Rather, they’ll be singing classic songs of Christmas.”
Connolly is also the producer of the summer season of Shakespeare in the Park performances in Galt Gardens, Legacy Park, Fort Macleod, High River, Nanton and outside of Casa.
This fundraiser helps the society add to its funding for the honouraria for the society’s actors.
Audience members can expect a joyous Christmas experience in a traditional way, Connolly says. “We love our audience to come along either dressed in a costume or more likely a suggestion of some part of a costume. It could either be Victorian or Tudor, Elizabethan kind of costume. In terms of a Victorian costume – it might just be a long scarf around the neck or if they’ve got a fancy hat of any kind or some of the guys just come in shirts and a vest.”
There will also be a communal Christmas carol portion of the evening, as well.
“Where all the audience can join in. It’s just a lovely way to really fall into the Christmas season and appreciate all things Christmas,” adds Connolly.
Shakespeare Meets Dickens will be held in the Casa Community Room. The event begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at Casa reception.
