“This American Life – Lake Geneva in 1900”
Enjoy a glimpse of the 1900’s Gilded Age in mansion-studded Lake Geneva. Learn what it was like to live as the privileged in the emerging summer resort town of Lake Geneva on the home grounds of the George Sturges Family. Explore the lives of wealthy Chicago families that made their summer homes in Lake Geneva. We’ll enact a day in the life of the “manor-born” with you as our guests. Chris Brookes as Mary Delafield Sturges serves as your hostess and guide.

“Food, Fashion, and Flowers of Shakespeare’s Times”
Experience a taste of the English Renaissance with Lady Bacon as your hostess. Sample the sweetmeats of which Elizabethans were so fond. See the latest styles for men and women to wear at Court. Discover what flowers to send an opposing soldier on the eve of battle, to use to ward off the plague, and to wear if your true love is far, far away. Refreshments served.

Springfield Evening Social
Gather at the historic railroad depot to share memories and history with old friends and new. Dessert buffet, fashion show, music, and more. Program can be customized to your historic setting.

Historical Hostess
Give your special event a historical flair with a fully-costumed character hostess to informally entertain your guests with tidbits of the past. Dressed in the fashion of the era of your choice, Chris Brookes mingles with guests and intertwines historical facts and stories into conversations. What a unique way to make your event a truly memorable occasion!
*Special Christmas Party Hostess - Aunt Ivy*

For Educators

“Bringing Literature to Life Through Drama”
Exciting, effective, and easy! Improve comprehension by infusing drama into literature for students in kindergarten through the eighth grade. Costuming, scenery, Reader’s Theater, puppets, and literature projects will be demonstrated. From fairy tales and legends to Shakespeare and the Renaissance – it’s all possible and on a budget, too!

“Much Ado About Shakespeare in the Middle School”
Transform your classroom into Shakespeare’s stage by actively involving your students in projects that unlock Shakespeare’s language and allows middle school students to put their own spin to the story of star-crossed lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare and his world will come alive for your students through activities that address comprehension, symbolism, costuming, and staging.