IOWA CITY, IA- Riverside Theatre, Iowa City's resident professional theatre company, will kick off its summer season, Riverside Theatre in the Park, on Friday, June 15 with As You Like It by William Shakespeare, directed by Theodore Swetz.

For tickets and information, call the Riverside Theatre Box Office at (319) 338-7672 or visit www.riversidetheatre.org.

In As You Like It, Rosalind, Shakespeare's most breathtaking heroine, and her boyfriend Orlando find themselves in the enchanted Forest of Arden, where "all the world's a stage," and where sudden infatuation is as confusing as it is beautiful. As You Like It has everything people adore about Shakespearean comedy: mistaken identity, cross-dressing, madness, mayhem, laughter, and romance...plus an original score and a cappella singing!

Kansas City based director Theodore Swetz directs this romantic comedy. Swetz is a founding company member of American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin, and is currently head of graduate actor training at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

"I believe we all need a little bit of 'Arden' in our lives - a place to reinvent and rejuvenate. We hope that a starry night at the Festival Stage gives our audiences one such escape," said Swetz.

Several returning actors will appear in featured roles in As You Like It: Kalen Harriman (Mary's Wedding, Romeo and Juliet, Love's Labour's Lost, Boom) as Rosalind, Jim Van Valen (A Steady Rain, Ah, Wilderness!) as Jaques and Tim Budd (Walking the Wire, The Cripple of Inishmaan) as Touchstone. Additional guest artists hail from Kansas City, Chicago, Milwaukee, and New York City.

The production features costumes by Genevieve Beller, scenic design by Shawn Ketchum Johnson, lighting design by David Thayer, and music composition by John Mistler.

Riverside Theatre in the Park also includes Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, directed by Kristin Horton, which opens Friday, June 22. As You Like It and The Merchant of Venice will then be performed in rotation until July 8.

Riverside Theatre in the Park is performed outdoors at the Festival Stage in Iowa City's Lower City Park every summer.

To make an evening at the park, audience members are invited to picnic before the show. Wraps, desserts, and beverages are available at the box office before the show and during intermission.

One hour before each main stage performance, patrons may gather at the Green Show Stage (located next to the pavilion) to brush up on the plot of that night's play with original story theatre versions of the evening's play performed by the Apprentice Company.

Directions to Lower City Park and information about parking can be found at www.riversidetheatre.org.

Single tickets for Riverside Theatre in the Park range from $17-$39 with discounts available for students, seniors, and youth, as well as those wishing to purchase tickets to both shows.

Patrons are also invited to take advantage of the four Family Nights, which will take place on June 17, 24, 26, and July 3. On Family Nights, up to two adults accompanying a youth will receive their tickets at the $17 youth price. Family nights are sponsored by funding from the Johnson County Community Foundation. Family Night performances begin at 7 p.m.

Tickets to Riverside Theatre in the Park can be ordered by calling the Riverside Theatre Box Office at 319-338-7672. The Riverside Theatre Box Office is open Tuesday-Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Single tickets may also be ordered online at www.riversidetheatre.org.

A recent rash of news stories highlights the positive in society's youngest members: "Child Saves Kids from Bus Crash;" "Child Saves His Brother from Possible Abduction;" "Child Saves Family from House Fire."

But all too often, the news involving children indicates a dangerous lack of morality: 7- and 8-year-olds stealing cars; a 9-year-old's recent shooting of a school classmate; a 12-year-old charged with armed robbery. A particularly bad one nearly 20 years ago shocked sisters Debbie Burns and Patty Cockrell. Two 10-year-old truants abducted a toddler in England, tortured the little boy and beat him to death.

It prompted the women to begin work on Tukie Tales: A New Beginning for a Better Tomorrow (www.tukietales.com), a series of five children's books designed to help parents teach young children important values.

"There is something especially senseless in reading about small children committing sadistic crimes," Burns says. "We wanted to be part of a 'positive push' in the right direction."

The younger the child, the more impressionable they are, she says. We wanted to help busy parents scrambling to make ends meet teach children empathy, compassion, environmental awareness and other values.

"I don't think parents are bad," she says. "But with all the economic worries, the job losses and home foreclosures, many are focused on working and worrying. It's hard to also be thinking, 'What value will I teach my child today?' "

Burns and Cockrell offer tips for parents to help positively shape children:

• Promote a love for nature: Are your kids outdoors much? Parents who are busying shuttling their sons and daughters from one building to another may overlook the benefits of the great outdoors. Wilderness, however, has a therapeutic effect on indoor dwellers. Spending time in nature also helps children learn about their place in the world and the value of all the life that shares space with us.

• Show the value of teamwork: Working together toward a common goal doesn't always come naturally to children - or adults. Many youngsters learn teamwork through sports, which is good but almost always includes a competitive element. It's important for children to experience the added benefits of creating, problem-solving and getting chores done as a team. Parents should look for opportunities to point out their children's great teamwork.

• Make sure they appreciate safety: No good parent wants to unnecessarily frighten their children, but carelessness leads to bad habits, injuries and opportunities for others to do them harm. The best medicine for any problem is prevention. Remember: Don't take for granted that your young child knows what's safe and what's not. Some years ago, someone taught you that stoves can burn your hand - even though you can't remember who or when it was.

• Build their confidence with at least one skill: Remember what it's like to be 4 years old? Very young children come into this world with no previous experience, which means their brains are hungry for know-how. Knowledge and skills to a child are like water for a thirsty man in the desert.

• Kindness counts: It is one thing to teach kids the old idiom that one catches more flies with honey than with vinegar. But children should also know that people who make kindness a habit tend to be happier; there is an inherent joy in helping others.

"I understand parents are busy earning a living to support their children," Cockrell says. "But who you raise in the process makes all the difference to the future world."

About Debbie Burns & Patty Cockrell

Barnes & Noble Bookfair continues online

If you weren't able to stop by Barnes & Noble recently during the bookfair, you can still make a purchase at www.barnesandnoble.com. At check out you can indicate that your purchase in a Bookfair Order. Enter the number 10774149 and 10% of your purchase price will be donated to the QCSO.

2nd Fiddle Sale Preview Party on June 14