Chloe McLeod in Shakespeare in the Parking Lot. Photo by McLeod9 Creative

“Something [fantastic] this way comes!”

Let’s face it. Shakespeare can be confusing. “Thee” and “thou” can often sound like a foreign language. But enter Shakespeare in the Parking Lot…stage right. DCPA’s Education and Community Engagement Department returns with its popular program for a seventh season. And these aren’t your typical performances.

Shakespeare in the Parking Lot is exactly what it sounds like — stripped-down, abridged versions of Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Macbeth centered around a pickup truck “set” in the middle of a parking lot. The cast members are local actors and DCPA teaching artists, including Shannon Altner, Grant Bowman, Iliana Lucero Barron, Chloe McLeod, Camryn Nailah Torres, Christian Ray Robinson, Ryan Omar Stack and Justin Walvoord.

This acting troupe not only takes these productions to area schools, it also performs the plays free to the public at community centers every fall and spring. From April 6 through May 18, the program will visit six community partners. The public is invited and encouraged to attend one of these upcoming performances.