Murray State celebrated the 14th annual Shakespeare Festival with performances from the American Shakespeare Center this week.

The festival started Monday with a Shakespeare flash mob. The flash mob was a group of Murray State theater students who hurled Shakespearean insults during lunchtime at the Curris Center to the delight of the crowd.

Each day, the American Shakespeare Center performed one of Shakespeare’s plays, including “Othello,” “Henry IV” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”

“I had read ‘Henry IV’ two or three years ago and absolutely loved it so I was excited when I found out it was going to be one of the plays,” said Danielle Geier, senior from Morton, Ill. “I think they did an absolutely fantastic job, they cast it so well and (it was) worthwhile.”

Geier has participated in the Shakespeare Festival events every year, and described it as one of the highlights of her time at Murray.

The daily performances were accompanied by smaller events, such as workshops and lectures to engage the students and community members.

There was an early performance of “Othello” in Lovett Auditorium Tuesday, followed by a workshop and a lecture. The ASC ended the night with another performance of “Othello.”

The ASC held a final performance of “Othello” Wednesday morning. The festivities continued with another workshop followed by a lecture by Kathy Callahan, professor of history, titled “The World of Young Prince Hal.”

The ASC and the theater department teamed up for a stage fighting workshop today and later tonight ASC will perform “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”

Friday the ASC will do its final performance of the week, ending the festival with a performance of “Henry IV.”

Friday evening in Lovett Auditorium is the “Talk Back” where students will have the opportunity to speak with the cast and afterward there will be a workshop for future College of Humanities and Fine Arts students.

The workshops help students, faculty and the public understand what they may or may not have already known about Shakespeare’s works. The workshops focused on the three plays performed.

After each performance, the audience was able to meet with some of the actors and donate to the American Shakespeare Center.

“This was the first time I’ve seen ‘Henry IV’ and I was very impressed with the passion the actors had and the level of love they put into the plays,” said Donovan Alexander, junior from Hopkinsville, Ky. “They seem like one big family.”

Story by Brandon Cash,?Staff writer