Lighthouse afterschool program finds new home still close to Sherman Hills

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Walk 2.5 miles in your own (snow) shoes during Feb. 28 Shoe and Brew event at Frances Slocum Park

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Practicing his role as Banquo, Matt Kropp, of Laurel Run, lunged onto the King&#8217;s College stage and crossed swords with a hapless enemy, played by Sabrina Rios, of Hanover Township.</p><p>Thwack! Thwack! As they blocked each other&#8217;s blows with wooden blades, the two warriors appeared evenly matched. Then Macbeth, played by Kyle McCormack, of Mountain Top, sneaked up behind Rios&#8217; character. A moment later, she was on the floor and Macbeth finished her off with a dagger.</p><p>Fight choreographer Alison Schug, of Dryden, New York, was pleased, but wanted more vocalization.</p><p>&#8220;You&#8217;re screaming!&#8221; she directed Rios. &#8220;He&#8217;s literally chopping your chest open.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Be loud! Make noises!&#8221; Schug said, her gaze taking in a dozen actors who had spent a good half hour leaping about and stabbing at each other as they rehearsed a battle scene for one of William Shakespeare&#8217;s most famous plays, &#8220;Macbeth,&#8221; to be presented by the King&#8217;s College Players Feb. 24-28.</p><p>While practicing the battle was a high-energy way to get ready for the play, subtle preparations were also taking place; among them, the way seven &#8220;weird creatures&#8221; have adopted such creatures as a raven, a snake and a rat to be their &#8220;familiars.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;For me, it&#8217;s a lot of arm and shoulder movements&#8221; that will help audience members realize her character has a connection to a raven,&#8221; said Skylar McKuch, of Mountain Top.</p><p>&#8220;Their wing spans are beautiful, but they&#8217;re oily,&#8221; she added. &#8220;I might do something with my hair.&#8221;</p><p>After watching animal videos to glean ideas, Katie Brunwasser, of Montgomery, New York, said she&#8217;d be &#8220;keeping my hands like claws and holding them close to my body, and scratching my head a lot because rats are fidgety.&#8221;</p><p>While many productions of &#8220;Macbeth&#8221; have three &#8220;weird sisters,&#8221; or witch-like women who tell Macbeth he will someday be king, the seven weird creatures in the show at King&#8217;s are a &#8220;very tight knit group of evil entities, neither male nor female,&#8221; said Britney Benkoski, of Exeter, said. &#8220;We act as one.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;They embody evil,&#8221; director Dave Reynolds said.</p><p>Perhaps these creatures are the trigger that awakens Macbeth&#8217;s ambition. But it&#8217;s the character Elizabeth Hoover plays, Lady Macbeth, who really goads her husband on toward bloodshed and ruin.</p><p>&#8220;I think all along there was a seed of evil in him,&#8221; Hoover said. &#8220;But it didn&#8217;t sprout until she came along with her watering can.&#8221;</p><p>Lady Macbeth is quite a scary character, said Jarred Stagen, of Lord&#8217;s Valley, New York, who portrays a doctor called in to treat the lady. Everyone in the scene is &#8220;supposed to act really scared of her,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But we don&#8217;t have to act.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The seven &#8216;weird creatures&#8217; who surround Macbeth (Kyle McCormack, of Mountain Top) and falsely reassure him are played by Natalie Pacileo, Skyler Makuch, Jessica Mulligan, Heather Danishanko, Katie Brunwasser, Amanda Kotch, and Britney Benkoski. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_ttl022216macbeth-2-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>The seven &#8216;weird creatures&#8217; who surround Macbeth (Kyle McCormack, of Mountain Top) and falsely reassure him are played by Natalie Pacileo, Skyler Makuch, Jessica Mulligan, Heather Danishanko, Katie Brunwasser, Amanda Kotch, and Britney Benkoski. </caption0><photoCredit0>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_ttl022216macbeth-4-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Macbeth (Kyle McCormack) finishes off an enemy in battle (Sabrina Rios) as Banquo (Matt Kropp) looks on. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_ttl022216macbeth-4-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Macbeth (Kyle McCormack) finishes off an enemy in battle (Sabrina Rios) as Banquo (Matt Kropp) looks on. </caption1><photoCredit1>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_ttl022216macbeth-6-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Natalie Pacileo channels a reptilian familiar as she portrays one of the &#8216;weird creatures&#8217; in &#8216;Macbeth.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_ttl022216macbeth-6-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Natalie Pacileo channels a reptilian familiar as she portrays one of the &#8216;weird creatures&#8217; in &#8216;Macbeth.&#8217; </caption2><photoCredit2>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_ttl022216macbeth-5-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Matt Kropp, of Laurel Run, and Sabrina Rios, of Hanover Township, practice fight choreography with wooden swords as they prepare for the King&#8217;s College production of &#8216;Macbeth.&#8217; The day after this photo was shot, the thespians were going to switch to metal swords. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_ttl022216macbeth-5-2.jpg</photo3><caption3>Matt Kropp, of Laurel Run, and Sabrina Rios, of Hanover Township, practice fight choreography with wooden swords as they prepare for the King&#8217;s College production of &#8216;Macbeth.&#8217; The day after this photo was shot, the thespians were going to switch to metal swords. </caption3><photoCredit3>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_ttl022216macbeth-7-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scottish warriors advance into a battle scene as student thespians prepare for &#8216;Macbeth&#8217; at King&#8217;s College. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_ttl022216macbeth-7-2.jpg</photo4><caption4>Scottish warriors advance into a battle scene as student thespians prepare for &#8216;Macbeth&#8217; at King&#8217;s College. </caption4><photoCredit4>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;Macbeth&#8217;</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> George P. Maffei II Theatre, rear King&#8217;s College Administration Building, 133 N. River St., Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24 to 26; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 and 28.</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $12; $7 seniors; $5 students.</p><p><strong>Info:</strong> 570-208-5825</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

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Double, double, toil and trouble; King’s College presents ‘Macbeth’ Feb. 24-28