48-hour Shakespeare marathon coming to North Carolina Stage Company in Asheville

Press release here below, from N.C. Stage:

Asheville, NC — North Carolina Stage Company, Asheville’s local professional theatre, hosts the 2nd annual Bard-a-thon, a 48-hour Shakespeare marathon, September 11- 13, 2009. North Carolina Stage Company is a non-profit organization and depends on donations for 40% of its operating expenses.

The Bard-a-thon is a fundraiser in which volunteer readers ask their family and friends to sponsor them as they read Shakespeare non-stop from Friday night to Sunday night. The Bard-a-thon is a grassroots, volunteer-based fundraiser: last year volunteers raised over $5,000 through the Bard-a-thon with the average pledge of under $50.

 
The Bard-a-thon is modeled after a walk-a-thon or crop walk.  Participants are professional actors, community members and board members who agree to read Shakespeare for a certain number of hours, and collect donations from family and friends.
North Carolina Stage Company is a professional, non-profit theatre, now in its seventh season.  About 40% of the theatre’s budget is supported by individual contributions.  The theatre hopes to raise $7,000 through the Bard-a-thon to support its professional theatre and arts education programs. All donations through the Bard-a-thon are fully tax-deductible.
 
Participants can choose to read individually or as a team.  Prizes will be awarded to volunteers who raise the most money, recruit the most donors, read the most plays, and read the most consecutive hours.  Local businesses have donated prizes for the readers. Sponsors include LaZoom Tours, The Market Place Restaurant, Rankin Vault Cocktail Lounge, and The Secret Garden Inn & Spa.
There is no charge to attend the Bard-a-thon readings, which are scheduled every four hours, on the hour.  The readings will also be broadcast live on the web, via NC Stage’s website www.ncstage.org.  The fundraiser will begin Friday September 11th at 8:00pm with the classic Romeo and Juliet.  All readings are at the NC Stage theatre at 15 Stage Lane in downtown Asheville.

Full Bard-a-thon schedule
September 11- 13, 2009
Friday             September 11
7 pm                The Annual Alley Awards
8 pm                Romeo and Juliet
Saturday              September 12
12 am              All’s Well That Ends Well
4 am                Two Gentlemen of Verona
8 am                The Taming of the Shrew
12 pm              Henry IV, Pt. II
4 pm                Henry V
8 pm                The Merry Wives of Windsor
Sunday              September 13
12 am              Twelfth Night  
4 am                Titus Andronicus
8 am                Hamlet
12 pm              Merchant of Venice
4 pm                As You Like It