Homeless Dogs Star as Shakespearean Actors

The animals at Baltimore Humane Society are about to become Shakespearean actors once again!  Teaming up with the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory  they will be performing in Hamlet and A Midsummer's Night Dream this summer. 

The canine thespian co-stars were such a success last year that they are doing it again.  In fact, the homeless thespians were nominated Best Dog Actors in Baltimore City Paper. 

Holly is the first of the adoptable canines who will be co-starring in Hamlet playing the part of Assistant Grave Digger.  Originally brought to Baltimore Humane Society after she was found wandering all alone, her sweet disposition, quickness in learning her parts, and being a great team player make Holly a popular favorite with the Shakespeare Factory.  This is actually her return engagement after co-starring in Taming of the Shrew last year. 

The Shakespeare Factory is committed to helping both Holly and all the homeless animals at Baltimore Humane Society, one of the great motivations for including the dogs in their performances.   The other reason is to recapture the spirit of the way Shakespeare originally intended his plays to be performed. 

Baltimore Humane Society will be sharing the stage with The Shakespeare Factory every weekend throughout the rest of the summer in the two plays.  Different dogs will be appearing in the roles at each of the performances.  In an effort to help find the dogs forever homes, the Shakespeare Factory is including a full page “actor’s bio” in the playbill and maintaining a B’more Humane information table at all the shows.

Hamlet will be the first of the plays, and will be performed primarily outside at the Johns Hopkins Evergreen Museum & Library.  There will also be performances at The Great Hall Theatre, St. Mary's Community Center, 3900 Roland Avenue, Baltimore and Boordy’s Vineyard.

 Performances will be held each weekend through the end of August.   Anyone who sees Holly or any of the other Baltimore Humane Society actors will get half off the adoption fee if they mention it when they come to the shelter and fill out an application. 

Information about performances can be found online at TheShakespeareFactory.com or 410-921-WILL(9455).

About the Baltimore Humane Society

The Baltimore Humane Society, founded in 1927 by Mrs. Elsie Seeger Barton, is an independent, non-profit, no-kill animal shelter, which offers low-cost veterinary care to the public, and a pet cemetery with grief support services.  We receive no operational funding from the local or federal governments, or any national animal welfare organizations.  For more information about BHS, and how you can contribute, volunteer, adopt, or foster, please visit www.bmorehumane.org or call 410-833-8848.

About the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory

The Baltimore Shakespeare Factory (The Factory), a 501(c)3 non-profit, is dedicated to bringing the works of William Shakespeare to life for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. In Shakespeare’s time (1564-1616), the theater was accessible to everyone, and The Baltimore Shakespeare Factory prides itself on continuing that tradition by presenting professional quality work at affordable prices. We have launched a campaign to provide all our mainstage shows for FREE to all audience members by 2016.

BSF productions reproduce the staging conditions that Shakespeare used to produce his plays on the Elizabethan stages of the 1590s. Productions use universal lighting, allowing the actors to see and interact with the audience. Just as Shakespeare’s actors would have entertained audiences with the songs of the day, BSF actors perform modern music (thematically related to the show) prior to the show and during intermission. BSF also makes liberal use of cross-gender casting as a nod to the conventions of the Elizabethan stage—since women weren’t allowed to perform in Shakespeare’s time, all his female roles were originally played by boys. Productions regularly feature women playing the parts of men and men playing the parts of women.