"The Wednesday Wars" debuts

Calvin English professor Gary Schmidt is watching his 2008 Newbery Honor Book, "The Wednesday Wars" go from print to the stage.

To read the full story, visit http://www.calvin.edu/news/

Kirsten Kelly, a '95 Calvin grad is directing the play, "The Wednesday Wars."

"It's amazing," Schmidt said. "This all happened 40 years ago. How strange is it for something from your past to be played out on stage?"

Schmidt based "The Wednesday Wars" on his 7th-grade experience as the only Protestant in his class in a Long Island school. On Wednesdays, when all of his fellow students are at yeshiva or catechism, Holling Hood Hood, the character based on a seventh-grade Schmidt, stays in class, cleaning erasers and reading Shakespeare with Mrs. Baker, who despises him.

Kelly, a freelance writer and director living in New York, got the idea to convert the young adult novel into a play when she noticed that many Michigan libraries featured it as a recommended read for summer.

"I read it and loved it and immediately saw how it could be a play and how it could open up Shakespeare to young students in a really fun way," said Kelly.

Performances opened to schools on Thursday, January 27. The play opens to the public on Saturday, January 29, 2011, with showtimes at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m..

For a complete schedule of performances, visit www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/ctc/2010-11

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Received on Fri Jan 28 12:50:28 2011