SHAKE it UP! Student Shakespeare Festival's program co-ordinator, Scott Lale, said that it's important to get Shakespeare's plays back into the hands of children. He has given students the opportunity to be anything from actors, stage crew, and management in an attempt to educate them about the arts.

"I think Shakespeare is universal themed. It's use of language, how to communicate. The stories that Shakespeare tells are things that are themed through everyone's lives. They still stand firm," said Lale.

"We are slowly losing our ability to speak. I find that people speak shorter sentences, and vocabularies are changing. Shakespeare wrote plays, he didn't write textbooks, and as a result it's very important for kids to hear the language spoken."

Lale has specifically chosen Romeo and Juliet for the children to act out because he feels the lessons in that play are lessons that need to be taught. Lale has organized the show to have three different sets of students playing the same characters. This provides enough roles to ensure that every person is able to act for their first time.

"Romeo and Juliet is the easiest one to talk about, which is what we're doing. It talks about love at first sight, and the idea of people from two different backgrounds trying to come together and have that impact," said Lale. "I think what we're really shooting for with this is to give students a taste of doing theatre in the sense of something they didn't know was there. It can be a boost of confidence, and provide a different set of skills."

Students from Gordon Graydon Senior Public School, Peel Alternative School, and Cardinal Leger Catholic Secondary School will be participating in the play. The Rose Theatre Academy is providing these students with their first opportunity to be on stage.

"Theatre asks for empathy. That's one of the things that art does. You look at something, whether it's a sculpture, a photograph, a painting, or you listen to somebody sing a song, and what you're doing is empathizing with that person. You're putting yourself in their shoes. That's the first step towards democracy," said Lale.

The actors will be performing on the main stage of the Rose Theatre at 7 p.m. for approximately one hour. This show will be available to everyone for a $10 fee. Lale is encouraging both the families of the actors, and the members of the community to come enjoy this experience.

"It would be enjoyable to see this. It's a bunch of first time kids and they run the gamut from 10 and 11 year-olds up to kids in high school," said Lale. "Most of the people have never been on stage before. There's a joy in watching somebody discover that, or overcome their fears."

For more information, visit www.rosetheatre.ca.