By Jackie Demaline
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival and the Mercantile Library will introduce the Canon Club in 2004 with the mission of creating an organized approach to reading and seeing the entirety of Shakespeare's canon.

Canon will meet six times a year at the Mercantile (414 Walnut St.), led by William McKim, professor emeritus at Northern Kentucky University. He's writing a book on Shakespeare and will teach a course on the Bard in the spring.

This premiere year, you'll get some bonus Bard. Canon Club debuts Jan. 21 with Hamlet, followed by Pericles on March 17. The third entry will cover several history plays in one with War of the Roses, the 10th anniversary revival that encompasses the end of Henry V and Henry VI.

Of course there's no word yet on Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival's plans for fall, but the festival assures us there will not be three back-to-back Shakespeares from September through December.

About half the Canon lectures will directly relate to festival shows. They promise at least one company member will participate in every lecture.

Membership is $60 for Mercantile Library members and Cincinnati Shakespeare subscribers and $70 for the general public. Tickets not included. Cincinnati Shakespeare has scheduled "Canon Club Days" with discounts throughout the year.

Reservations open Jan. 5. Call 621-0717 e-mail Judy Sharp at jsharp@mercantilelibrary.com.

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E-mail jdemaline@enquirer.com