Shakespeare's early years comes to Middletown

MIDDLETOWN-Two Gentlemen of Verona, a work of Shakespeare's early years, was written by someone who still remembers what it was like to be young and in love. The play is about being as impetuous, inconstant, and changeable as an April day. The Arts and Communication Department and the Apprentice Players at Orange County Community College will perform this complex play in November. As befits Shakespeare, the plot is filled with liaisons made and betrayed, plots laid and foiled, and a young woman masquerading as a man. The audience watches as two pairs of articulate young lovers parted by distance, inconstancy, and pride, experience the early glow of attraction. The play is filled with youthful high spirits and emotional intemperance, and so is perfect for college students. Director Max Schaefer has added to the fun by setting the story in (pre-hurricane) South Beach, Florida, adding a contemporary feeling to the classic romance. The ensemble includes Adam Flocke, Phillip Duss, James Tyler Wallace, Kyle Griffiths, Karl Spindler, Matt Agazzi, Anne Miggins, Elizabeth Guzman, Jessica Jeffries, Jonathan A. Cieslak, David Marmanillo, Ted Nicholas, Jacqueline Dion, and Jess Beveridge. Performances will be held on November 12, 13, 19, and 20 at 8 p.m. and November 14 and 21 at 3 p.m. at Orange Hall Theatre, on the college's Middletown campus. Tickets are $7 for general admission, $5 for faculty and staff members and senior citizens, and $2 for students. Local high school groups are invited to meet the cast and director at a special performance on November 11 at 8 p.m. For more information, call 341-4790. For reservations, call 341-4789.