Since 2010, the Adirondack Shakespeare Company has been offering professional productions of classical plays and also original works for children.

This year in addition to its regular line-up, the Company is adding an Arts & Crafts Workshop to its children play, Songs of the Iroquois: Turtle Island thanks to an ongoing fundraiser through Adirondack Gives.

The opening performance of Turtle Island on July 9th will be at The Strand Theater in Schroon Lake at 10:30 am and followed by a free Arts & Crafts Workshop at the Schroon Lake Public Library at noon.

“We’re excited to be able to offer these workshops after almost every performance this summer,” Patrick Siler, the Company’s Executive Director and the author of Turtle Island, said in an announcement to the press. “It’s a wonderful addition to our programming, where kids can learn about Native culture and traditions, and make a simple wampum belt to take home.”

Songs of the Iroquois: Turtle Island will run through August 6th, performing in venues around the Adirondacks and in repertory with three mainstage Shakespeare plays, two of which are anniversary productions from the Company’s first season: Romeo & Juliet and As You Like It.

This will be the Company’s first production of The Merry Wives of Windsor as it moves towards what Artistic Director, Tara Bradway, calls Vision 2020. “ADK Shakes has been producing prolifically for the last several years and moving our way pretty quickly through the canon. With Vision 2020, we are actively aiming to produce the entire canon by the end of our 2020 season, which will make us the fastest company in the world to do so.”

You’ll have from July 9 to August 9 to catch ADK Shakes in action from Saratoga Springs, to Old Forge, to Chazy and elsewhere. For the full schedule of performances, visit their website at adkshakes.org, or call 518-803-HARK (4275).

Performances at the Company’s home space at the Scaroon Manor Amphitheater will be free again this summer with admission to Scaroon Manor, which is $10 per vehicle.