Today, April 23rd we celebrate William Shakespeare’s birthday, also the same day he died. (Geesh does it get more epic than that?)

If you’re like me, Shakespeare seems ultra intimidating. It wasn’t until I finally took a Shakespeare class while studying in London that I began to sorta shed my Shakespeare scare. His plays are actually easily understood plots told through gorgeous language and brilliant word play. If you’re afraid of Shakespeare and check out http://www.shakespeare.org. Not only does this organization produce performances but they also offer one of the most extensive Shakespeare arts-in-education programs in the northeast, reaching more than 40,000 students and teachers each year with innovative, socially responsive, and educationally challenging performances, workshops and residencies.

Also check out Shakespeare for Dummies. I am a huge fan of the Dummies book series, they offer clear cut explanations of all those things you think you should know but admittedly don’t.

Who Will Carry the Word? is based upon the true story of Charlotte Delbo’s of life in concentration camps. The play depicts the lives of 23 women while they shared a barracks in Auschwitz. Their goal: to keep the strongest of them alive so that someone could share what they had experienced with the world.

The Red Fern Theatre Company’s production of Who Will Carry the Word?, opened February 21, 2008 at Center Stage (48 West 21st Street, between 5th & 6th Ave.) and ran through March 2. Proceeds from the production benefited Remember the Women Institute, a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that conducts and encourages research and cultural activities that contribute to including women in history.

Although the productions run has ended you can still get involved with Remember the Women Institute by visiting rememberwomen.org