Salem Actress To Celebrate Shakespeare's Birthday In Swampscott

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Julie Butters, a Salem resident and the former co-chair of Harvard University's Hyperion Shakespeare Community, will be helping celebrate the birthday of William Shakespeare this weekend with a special free Shakespeare Birthday Party performance at the Swampscott Public Library.

Butters will give a talk about the bard and perform excerpts from his plays alongside her husband, Bryan Butters, a Marblehead history teacher. The performance will run on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The couple has performed Shakespearean scenes together in virtual productions for the Flock Theatre in New London, Connecticut and Chill Bucket Productions of New York. On Saturday, they will perform snippets from "Richard III," "Romeo and Juliet," and "As You Like It."

They will also appear on the ReachArts of Swampscott podcast "Sonnets & Scenes" on Sunday at 4 p.m. as part of the Poetry in Unusual Places series for National Poetry Month.

Go here to register for to Shakespeare's Birthday Party or call 781-596-8867.

Refreshments will be provided during the performance.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)