A Rural School Touring Grant secured by Greenville High School will provide funds to make sure GHS seniors "Brush Up Your Shakespeare."

English teacher and senior sponsor Sherri Smith said the school applied to the Alabama Council for the Arts for the grant earlier in the year, and was awarded $1,200 which will be used to bring the Stage Centre Company to the Ritz Theatre in Greenville for a "seniors only" performance of Brush Up Your Shakespeare, which is a fast-paced romp through some of William Shakespeare's most popular works.

"We have had to cut out our trips to the Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery and we wanted our students to be exposed to this cultural experience," Smith said.

Smith said she expects the school to apply for the grant each year.

The performance will be held on Monday, April 10, at 1:30 p.m. in the Ritz Theatre in downtown Greenville and is open only to seniors of Greenville High. Smith said the students will be joined by Mayor Ernie Smith, members of the city council and county commission and other local officials. She said Representative Charles Newton and Senator Wendell Mitchell have also been invited to attend and that free tickets have also been provided to area civic organizations.

During the performance, the Tuscaloosa based professional theatre company will teach the students that Shakespeare's plays are accessible, moving and often hilarious dramas for all ages. The production will include scenes from Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet and will also include performances from other sonnets and plays.

Stage Centre Company has been touring throughout Alabama since 1995, and was created to provide quality, Alabama based, professional theatre at prices affordable to all community presenters.