The Play's the Thing
The Children’s Shakespeare Theatre (CST) played an important role in Dana Stangel-Plowe and her family relocating to Palisades. “We had decided to move from New City to one of the river towns. I saw a sign for one of the plays the CST was producing and attended a performance with my three daughters. I was delighted they enjoyed it so much. We decided Palisades was where we wanted to be and moved here in 2008.”
Daughters Lucy, about to turn 12, and Emma 9 are now part of the thirty-two children in the Knaves, the 8 to 14 year old division of the Children’s Shakespeare Theatre. Kiki, close to 6, has a few years to wait.
Dana too got involved, serving on the CST’s board of directors. A poet by inclination who has had work published in Patterson Poetry Journal and 32 Poems Magazine among others, she is by profession a lawyer. “I was torn between law and poetry. When I graduated from high school my poetry mentor encouraged me to study law for job security.” After a law degree from George Washington University, three years clerking for a federal judge and her first baby, Dana went back to school earning a master of fine arts degree from NYU in poetry. (To see samples of her work go to danastangelplowe.com.)
When Diana Green decided, after ten years of an extraordinary effort establishing and running the Children’s Shakespeare Theatre, that it was time to take a step back and bring in other committed people to direct the Knaves, Dana volunteered. She attended a teacher training class at Shakespeare and Co., a leading East Coast company of teachers and actors in Lenox, Massachusetts, and is now codirector under Karen Lamb, a professional freelance director based in North Carolina Diana brought in for this season. Green is now functioning as artistic director.
Dana brings enthusiasm and generosity to the task of helping to smooth over the transition. She says, “As a parent, a poet and a neighbor, I am deeply grateful to Diana for her vision and dedication in creating the amazing programs at CST. The record-breaking number of kids in Knaves this season is a testament to her enduring efforts. CST continues to be a thriving and beloved theatre company.
I intend to help carry on Diana’s vision for CST, especially the sense that CST is a community effort. Because of Diana, CST is strongly rooted here in our community. Our neighbors, the Palisades Presbyterian Church, the Palisades Community Center, the CST families, the audiences and friends, and of course, the kids who grow up in CST and come back year after year, all contribute to this community effort. I truly feel privileged to play a part in what Diana created, and to help carry on her vision.”
The Rogue Players are presenting Macbeth the first two weekends in November with an opening night gala on November 5. The Knaves are performing Julius Caesar the first two weekends in December with an opening night gala December 3.