Shakespeare in the Park Louisville Performs Live, Free Theater
To be or not to be ... actually, that's not the question for the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, having hosted Louisville's Shakespeare in the Park festival for over five decades. The festival is the oldest free Shakespeare festival in the country, drawing up to 15,000 visitors each year to numerous productions.
This year the festival will run June 7 to July 24 and will include five different plays. Works will include The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged), As You Like It, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of the Shrew and Hamlet.
The Complete Works show is a well-loved parody of Shakespeare's plays, with all of them being played in a shortened form, usually by just three actors. The actors frequently talk directly to the audience and use improvisation to vary each performance. The play's second act is entirely about Hamlet, with the audience helping portray Ophelia. After the portrayal of Hamlet, the actors then play it out several times and increase the speed each time. The play is finished with the actors performing Hamlet backwards.
The production of Taming of the Shrew is touring show, part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, an initiative sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. The production is played at schools in the spring, and is aimed at audiences in grades six through 12 — so if it didn't come to your child's school, be sure to check it out.
Also part of the festival will be a student production, performed by attendees of Camp Shakespeare. "The Players" are a group of advanced theater students ages 15-18 who attend a seven-week training program. The camp includes daily workshops and rehearsals. Students as young as 4 have their own camp sessions throughout the summer as well.
The festival is held in picturesque Central Park in Old Louisville, utilizing the 1,000-seat amphitheater built especially for the festival and named after its creator, C. Douglas Ramey. Ramey founded the Carriage House players in 1949, which produced its first Shakespeare play in 1953. In 1960, the company performed a piece from Much Ado About Nothing during an art fair in Central Park, and the celebration has continued ever since.
Inclement weather can cancel shows, so check the forecast before you head out. Parking is limited, so arrive early. Bug spray is another good idea. Dates for individual show runs have not yet been announced.
With its nearly two-month run this year, Shakespeare in Central Park has plays to entertain a range of interests — and as always, its free.
Posted on Jun 14, 2011 by Tracy Harris
