Tackling Shakespearean roles as diverse as the romantic Romeo, Titania the fairy queen, the eloquent Mark Antony, and the monstrous Caliban, Central and South Texas students in grades 3-6 will take the stage on the University of Texas campus on May 12 and 14 for the fifth annual UT Children's Shakespeare Festival.

These young Shakespeareans" approximately 500 in all , have been working with the University of Texas Shakespeare at Winedale Outreach program since the fall, exploring scenes from a variety of the playwright's works. The students attend public elementary schools in the Austin, Round Rock, Judson, and Victoria school districts.

"These students have been working hard and have really fallen in love with these amazing words and these wonderful characters," said Outreach Coordinator Clayton Stromberger. "It's a big moment for them to perform on the big UT stage for an audience of their peers."

Shakespeare at Winedale Outreach is a language arts and fine arts enrichment program designed to provide opportunities for meaningful learning and academic excellence for Texas schoolchildren, with a special focus on both emerging and advanced readers in grades 3 through 8, and on students in low-income communities. To learn more about Shakespeare at Winedale Outreach, visit www.shakespeare-winedale.org, call the UT Shakespeare at Winedale office at (512) 471-4726, or email program coordinator Clayton Stromberger at cstromberger@mail.utexas.edu.

For more information contact: Liz Fisher, UT Shakespeare at Winedale program coordinator, at (512) 471-4726, or lfisher@mail.utexas.edu.