William Shakespeare’s seminal play? It’s difficult if not impossible to choose among the Bard’s many masterpieces, but Romeo and Juliet makes just about every short list of contenders. It’s one of his two most-performed pieces (with A Midsummer Night’s Dream), especially popular in the U.S.

Kansas City’s Heart of America Shakespeare Festival delivers a script-in-hand reading of the famously tragic story of teen lovers irresistibly drawn to each other despite an ancient feud between their two families. Several HASF alumni are part of the cast of area professionals who bring the story to life in advance of the Festival’s summer production of Shakespeare in Love (which includes Romeo and Juliet as a play within the play).