The “Shaking Up Shakespeare” festival concludes with a free performance by the Capitol Shakespeare Children's Traveling Troupe of "Love's the Thing" at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 31, in the ND Heritage Center & State Museum's Russell Reid Auditorium. This performance is in conjunction with the "First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare" exhibit on view in the ND Heritage Center’s James E. Sperry Gallery through July 31.
 
"Love's the Thing" is a compilation of scenes from William Shakespeare's First Folio exploring the idea of love. Director Amanda Perry uses a modern adaptation to tie together themes of false love, love lost, ambitious love, passionate love, mistaken love, and the power of love from plays such as "Romeo and Juliet," “Hamlet,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” "The Taming of the Shrew," and “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” Sixteen youth ages 12 to 20 play multiple roles.
 
Cast members include Matthew Irvine, Meghan McNeil, Cori Flanagan, Andrew Graner, Erica Solberg, Kaleb Klein, Nicolle Mickelson, Rebecca Burckhard, Abigail Bates, Brek Kohler, Calvin Karalus, Max McNeil, Lexi Belile, Anna Gronbeck, Kylie Schaff and Ella Strutz. The production coordinator is Leslie Reisenauer.
 
The “Shaking Up Shakespeare” festival is presented by the State Historical Society of North Dakota in collaboration with Capitol Shakespeare. This Capitol Shakespeare performance is supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which received funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. The performance is also funded in part by Dakota West Arts Council and the North Dakota Humanities Council.
 
The North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information visit history.nd.gov/shakespeare or contact Erik Holland, curator of education, at 701.328.2792. Find a calendar of upcoming State Historical Society events at history.nd.gov/events.