Shakespeare in the Heritage Room of the Branch District Library.

Shakespeare hits the road in Branch County

Posted: Aug. 10, 2012 at 12:45 p.m.

COLDWATER – As the restoration of the front of the Tibbits Opera House progresses, one of the distinct details of the building has lent itself to a creative outlet and built community awareness of the project. The bust of Shakespeare, which will adorn the niche near the top of the building, has been traveling the county for photo opportunities at area businesses, local events and in various unique settings.

The photos are being posted on Facebook by the various businesses, and Tibbits has created a photo album called "Adventures of Shakespeare." Friends of Tibbits are encouraged to add comments and slogans for the pictures. Additional photos are being posted by other businesses and friends on their own pages.

According to Christine Delaney, Tibbits executive director, it started out with a picture of Shakespeare on stage with Charles Burr, Tibbits' artistic director. Burr made a donation specifically to fund the statue as part of the theater's "down to the details" fundraising campaign. "We took the photo on stage and then decided we should take one in a theater seat, and then we added one in a dressing room."

"It was fun and kind of snowballed from there," Delaney added. "The more places we take him, the more ideas we are given for other places to go."

Delaney introduced Shakespeare to the Coldwater City Council at its July 23 meeting. The idea started as a way to show off our community through a series of pictures with "the Bard." Since then he has been everywhere - from the library to a dairy farm. "Through the process we have had an opportunity to talk about the restoration and draw attention to the detail of the work being done," said Delaney.

Additional photos can be seen at www.facebook.com/tibbitsoperahouse. Shakespeare will receive a final coat of paint, and then be installed permanently next week before the scaffold begins to come down.