More than Shakespeare: Building Community at Palmer Shakes and Bakes
Contributed by Elizabeth Stout
For MASCOTarts, theatre has never just been about putting on a show.
Our mission is to create and foster a love of theatre throughout the Mat-Su community by providing education, opportunity, and space for stagecraft to grow. But none of those things happen particularly well in isolation. A strong arts community depends on organizations, artists, businesses, families, and audiences working together.
That idea is at the heart of Palmer Shakes and Bakes, a new community Shakespeare festival being presented in partnership by MASCOTarts and the Palmer Arts Council.
The festival grew out of MASCOTarts’ Shakespeare in the Park program, but from the beginning, the goal was to build something larger than a single production. Working with the Palmer Arts Council has allowed us to bring theatre together with local artists, community organizations, food, demonstrations, and activities, turning a Shakespeare performance into a broader celebration of creativity and community.
Another important partner in making the festival possible is St. John’s Lutheran Church, which is generously allowing the festival to use the beautiful greenspace across from its building. It is exactly the kind of setting we hoped for: an open, welcoming outdoor space where people can spread out, wander through the festival, grab something to eat, participate in activities, and settle in for some Shakespeare.
We want someone to be able to come because they love Shakespeare, because their kids want to watch a sword-fighting demonstration, because they want to visit community booths, or simply because they saw a food truck and wondered what was going on.
In other words, you do not need to know the difference between a sonnet and a soliloquy to come have a good time.
At the center of the festival will be MASCOTarts’ production of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. Our production has given Shakespeare’s comedy a distinctly Alaskan twist. We have placed the story in a southeast port city while keeping the wit, romance, and misunderstandings.
But the play is not all there is to enjoy.
Palmer Shakes and Bakes is being designed as a true community festival, with performances and demonstrations, food trucks, family activities, and participation from local artists and organizations. Visitors can make an afternoon of it rather than simply arriving for a performance and heading home when the curtain closes.
That distinction matters.
The Mat-Su has an incredible number of creative people. What we don’t have is enough opportunities for those people and organizations to work together, or for the people of the Valley to discover what is available.
A healthy arts community is an ecosystem. Theatre becomes stronger when actors meet and get to know each other, as well as craftspeople, visual artists, musicians, and educators. Local arts organizations can share audiences, ideas, expertise, and resources. Local businesses and community organizations can become partners in the arts rather than spectators. The hope is that we can all begin to see local arts not as an occasional special event, but as a normal and vibrant part of life in the Valley.
The partnership between MASCOTarts and the Palmer Arts Council, and the generosity of St. John’s Lutheran Church in providing a place for the community to gather, are practical examples of what that can look like.
Come check it out, grab something to eat, or cheer during a sword fight. Meet an artist or organization you didn’t know was here. And stay for Shakespeare and judge for yourself if it is really as fun as we say it is.
Because ultimately, Palmer Shakes and Bakes isn’t about convincing everyone in the Valley to love Shakespeare.
It’s about creating another place for our community to come together and build something amazing.
