Wilmington, DE - March 11, 2008 - Delaware Theatre Company's (DTC) Totally Awesome Kids acting troupe will present Totally Awesome Hamlet, Monday, March 24 at 7:30pm on DTC's stage. The event is free and open to the public. Totally Awesome Kids is a program for people with cognitive disabilities, enabling participants to learn about theatre through warm-ups, improvisation exercises and performance. The program is funded by the Delaware Foundation Reaching Citizens with cognitive disABILITIES (DFRC) and AstraZeneca. The young people involved with Totally Awesome Kids are encouraged to explore their creative sides while expressing themselves freely, in a safe and fun environment. The 45 Participants, whose ages range from 12 to 34, and 13 volunteers meet weekly for forty-five minutes to one hour from December to March.

Totally Awesome Kids began in 1992, and many of the participants have been involved since the program started. The evening will kick off with curtain warmers from the first group of performers. These activities will demonstrate the group's work over the rehearsal period and learning experiences in different acting games and activities. The second group of performers will present Totally Awesome Hamlet, inspired by DTC's recent production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield.  "We have made it our own by taking the greatest play ever written in the English language and distilling into a half-hour of slapstick comedy, the thing we do best," says Charles Conway, DTC Director of Education & Community Engagement, the troupe's creator.  "It is our objective to entertain the audience by highlighting the talents of this troupe of special actors."

An abridged version of Totally Awesome Hamlet, written by Totally Awesome Kids volunteer Jane McFadden, was originally performed for the DFRC's Holidazzle 2007 at The Grand Opera House, in Wilmington, this past fall.  McFadden has since extended the piece to 30-minutes for the March 24th performance, which Conway believes will be a theatre event "even Shakespeare himself isn't going to miss."

And if anyone does miss the performance, there's a chance that they may catch it on the big screen.  Michael Oates, of 302 Stories in Newark, DE, and his film crew (two University of Delaware students) have been filming a documentary on the Totally Awesome Kids since their first rehearsal for Totally Awesome Hamlet in December.   The 60-minute film will focus on several of the young actors and how they relate to the world outside of the theatre by incorporating interviews with those close to them, including family and friends.  "302 Stories will capture not only the Shakespearean production," explains Oates, "but the underlying human questions about identity and personal affirmation that inevitably emerge when actors are challenged to "give their all" for a public performance."  Oates and DTC are currently working together on the search for funding to produce and broadcast the documentary.  It is Oates' aspiration to premiere the film at the Rehoboth Film Festival in November, as well as at DTC.

Totally Awesome Hamlet, presented by the Totally Awesome Kids, will take place at Delaware Theatre Company, located at 200 Water Street, Wilmington, DE. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. For more information about the performance, call Charles Conway at 302.594.1104 ext. 226. To reserve tickets, contact the box office at 302.594.1100/
 
 
Delaware Theatre Company's Totally Awesome Kids is sponsored by Delaware Foundation Reaching Citizens with cognitive disABILITIES and AstraZeneca. Programs are made possible, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency committed to promoting and supporting the arts in Delaware.  The Delaware Division of the Arts provides technical and financial assistance to artists and arts programs and serves as a clearinghouse for information on the arts.

 
Delaware Theatre Company, Delaware's premier professional theatre, is located at 200 Water Street, on Wilmington's Riverfront. Delaware Theatre Company is a member of the League of Resident Theatres, Theatre Communications Group, the Wilmington Arts Coalition, the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia, the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce, and the Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau.
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