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lockportlegend.com life & arts
the lockport legend | April 18, 2019 | 19
Limestone Stage to present a
modern play for its Spring Classic
Alex Ivanisevic
Assistant Editor
Limestone Stage cast members and Lockport residents
Erik Lindblom (left) and Alissa Raschke-Janchenko
rehearse for the “I Hate Shakespeare” production that
is to show April 25-28. Luke Janchenko/Limestone Stage
Community theatre
Limestone Stage hopes to
bring laughs to Lockport
with its performance of “I
Hate Shakespeare” later
this month.
Limestone Stage is to
present “I Hate Shakespeare,”
written by playwright
Steph DeFerie, of
Cape Cod, as its Spring
Classic at 7 p.m. on April
25, 26 and 27, and at 3 p.m.
on April 28 at the Lockport
Township Building, 1463
Farrell Road, Lockport.
Tickets are $12 and can be
purchased in advance by
visiting eventbrite.com or
contacting (815) 905-2789.
The play, which Limestone
considers to be “a
slap-stick comedy” that
goes through many of
Shakespear’s classics, is
the theatre’s 15th full-scale
production, Limestone
Stage executive director
Luke Janchenko said.
“Limestone Stage was
founded in 2014 as a project
of the Gaylord Building
in downtown Lockport,”
Janchenko said. “In September
2017, we filed with
the state as our own company
and last year were
granted 501c3 non-profit
status.”
Throughout the last five
years, it has grown to have
more than 75 active volunteer
members, producing
three or four full productions
per year. It is a fully
volunteer based theater
company.
“In 2017, we began
partnering with Lockport
Township Government,
who allow us to host our
shows in their beautiful
home office building
at 1463 S. Farrell Road,”
Janchenko said. “The facility
has a 320-square-foot
stage, a seating capacity
of almost 200 and more
lighting and AV capability
than some major theatres
in downtown Chicago, so
we have plans to do even
larger productions there in
the future.”
Equally as excited for
the upcoming showing of
“I Hate Shakespeare” is
the show’s director, Wally
Roche. It is Roche’s first
time directing a full-scale
production.
“We started rehearsing
for the production back
in February,” Roche said.
“Limestone traditionally
does a class play in the
spring, their Spring Classic,
so I kind of pitched [“I
Hate Shakespeare”] as a
compromise as I wanted to
do a modern play.”
Roche described the play
as a fast paced and exciting
show giving “actors and
actresses opportunities to
take on multiple roles,” he
said, adding, “It’s a very
very funny show.”
As a director, Roche said
he likes to watch actors follow
their instincts and is
currently working with 10
cast members, each playing
multiple characters, for the
“I Hate Shakespeare” production.
Roche said the play was
written for a younger audience
with its “funny and
clever” tone but has some
adult humor intertwined
making it suitable for a PG-
13 audience.
The play is approximately
an hour and a half long
with a 10-minute intermission.
“I am extremely excited
for this play to show,”
Roche said. “I’ve been doing
theater for a long time
and I think this is going to
be the funniest production
I have ever been involved
in.”
He gave credit to the actors
for “putting in a lot of
effort and funny material
into the work” for the play,
which is a series of quick
vignettes “highlighting,
honoring and poking fun at
all of Shakespeare’s plays.”
Roche hopes the Lockport
community will give it
a chance and have a good
laugh.