Shakespeare is Alive at Saratoga's Marshall Lane Elementary School

Marshall Lane Elementary School, in Saratoga, but part of the Campbell Union School District, is quite unique, says mom Anne Palmer.

"We do not get a lot of the perks and pluses of being in the Saratoga Union School District, but we make do with what we have, and we do a good job at it," she adds.

Palmer's "graduating" fifth-grade class is performing William Shakespeare's, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" tonight Wednesday, May 29 at 5:30 p.m. and tomorrow, Thursday, May 30 at 6 p.m. next to teacher Andrea Lawryk's classroom in the grass area, 14114 Marilyn Lane, in true Shakespearian fashion.

Palmer credits Lawryk for working with the students and rehearsing the play "without any special grants or fancy donations, but with a pure passion and love for sharing Shakespeare and theater arts with the students."

Palmer added: "It's a unique and wonderful experience for the kids and our school."

Why did Lawryk help her class put on the play? "When I was a little girl, my parents took me to the Ashland Oregon Shakespeare Festival each year. This sparked a love for Shakespeare within me. Once I became a teacher, after acting school and changing my major many times, I decided that the experience of being in a play would be highly valuable on many level for my students," she said.

"My first year teaching, a parent who was aware of my interest and passion for Shakespeare found an adapted version of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' one of my favorite Shakespeare pieces, and purchased it for my classroom use," she added.

Lawryk also explained when she was a little girl her father used to recite Puck's last monologue from the play before she went to sleep and she acted in it herself in high-school. "This only made the choice of doing this particular piece even more perfect," she said.

This will be Lawryk's third year performing the free play and it now draws many students from former years. The public is invited to attend.

Marshall Lane Elementary School serves children in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell and San Jose, Palmer added.