Morningside College will present a staged reading of “Romeo and Juliet: Thrice-Told Tales” at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 18, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 19, in Klinger-Neal Theatre on the Morningside campus.

Morningside College will present a staged reading of “Romeo and Juliet: Thrice-Told Tales” at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 18, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 19, in Klinger-Neal Theatre, 3700 Peters Ave., on the Morningside campus.

The show is free and open to the public.

The short play explores what might have happened had “Romeo and Juliet” not ended tragically. It looks at Romeo and Juliet as a young couple, as a middle-aged couple and as a much older couple. The couples have separate illuminating moments and a pivotal one where they all interact.

The play was written by Lorenzo Sandoval. It was a finalist in Cambridge University Press’s 2016 international competition, Shakespeare as Interpreted by the Next Generation of Great Playwrights.

Sandoval will direct the production. Student cast members will be MacKenzie Albright of Sioux City; Brock Bourek of Columbus, Neb.; and Kailyn Robert of Osage City, Kan. Other cast members will be Wendy Brice, Steve Lundberg, Diana Wooley and Betty Skewis-Arnett.

Sandoval is artistic director of the Iowa Shakespeare Experience in Des Moines. He has a Master of Fine Arts in playwriting from the University of Iowa. He is in residence on campus at Morningside College for the spring semester as part of the Dimmitt Fellows program.  His fellowship is made possible by Morningside College, the Gilchrist Foundation, Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities.