Magical day at Alabama Shakespeare Festival
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Goodwater summer campers take a moment to pose for a photo by a statue on the grounds of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.
Special to the News
News from Goodwater
One of Goodwater’s invaluable resources is its Youth Development Center which offers an after school program, as well as a summer camp.
Both are helmed by Goodwater native Sharonna Hayes. In the last week of its 2025 Summer Camp Program, filled to the brim with fun and enriching activities, Hayes managed to squeeze in one more opportunity for the children under her care.
She loaded summer campers between the ages of 9 and 13 into the Center’s tried but true van and traveled south to Montgomery to attend Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s production of “The Wizard of Oz.”
For many of the children, seeing this timeless classic up close and in person was their first experience with live theater.
Hayes revealed, “I thought they might get bored, but they didn’t.”
Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s current complex was built in 1985. The grand structure; comprising elegant lobbies, meeting rooms and several large theaters; sits on park-like grounds surrounding a lake and is truly one of Alabama’s treasures. Goodwater’s summer campers enjoyed running and playing in the outdoor amphitheater and gardens before the show began.
Alabama Shakespeare Festival produces classics such as Shakespeare’s works, as well as other well known plays and musicals. It also supports new voices in theater with a particular focus on showcasing the work of playwrights from the American South.
Who knows? Our next generation of theater artists might just include one of the young people from Goodwater’s 2025 Summer Camp.
Hayes remembered that the children were so caught up in the story they were watching that at intermission they were like, “Let’s hurry up with our snacks ‘cause we gotta get back in there.”
When asked if they were scared by any part of the story, maybe by the Wicked Witch of the West, one camper replied, “No. The scary part was when she went through the floor.”
That must have been when Dorothy throws a bucket of water on the Witch, and she dissolves into a puddle. Ah…the magic of live theater.
Hayes believes that exposing children to the arts is a great way to cultivate an interest in the arts while also building a strong foundation of curiosity, empathy and kindness for ourselves and future generations.
Hayes recalled how the children were so excited when leaving the performance they said, “We can do this, too! Let’s put on a play!”
Indeed. Mission accomplished. They most certainly can do this, too.
Summer campers with Goodwater’s Youth Development Center at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s box office.
