Welcome to Richmond Shakespeare’s 27th year!!
In February, the company will bring Portland, Oregon-based
director Jan Powell to direct Shakespeare’s great Tragedy of Macbeth. Set
in motion by the three witches who purport to guide his fate---or by
Macbeth’s own desires, the timeless and violent adventure wrestles with
the ultimate in human questions: existence, ambition, eternity. Macbeth
will run February 9-25, 2012 as part of the
Acts of Faith festival of plays.
To round out the downtown winter season at CenterStage,
Richmond Shakespeare will produce
Shakespeare & Galileo, which
Mudge was commissioned to write by the Science Museum
’s Carpenter
Science Theatre Company in 2005. The play explores the relationships
between art, science and God and is chock full of espionage, the
Inquisition and healthy doses of humor.
Shakespeare & Galileo is also
part of the
Acts of Faith festival running in rotation with Macbeth for
schoolday matinees and public performances February 22
– March 10,
2012.
In May, RS will bring a free, one-night-only performance to local
audiences for the third year in a row. Partnering with the Maymont
Foundation, RS joins other arts organizations for
On Stage @ Maymont, a
free series of outdoor performances. For 2012 the company will produce
A Midsummer Night's Dream
on May 9, at 7pm.
"Part of our mission is to help bring these plays to audiences who
otherwise might never have a chance to see them,
” said Cynde Liffick, RS
Director of Education. "We
’ve always loved the play. Midsummer in
particular can open the door for first-timers to the rest of Shakespeare." On
the firefly-dotted landscape of Maymont's grounds and gardens, she notes,
"...it'll be magical."
For the 15th Anniversary Richmond Shakespeare Festival at
Agecroft Hall, the company will explore English Heritage & Myth
,
selecting
Cymbeline and The Merry Wives of Windsor. An epic fairy tale
of evil queens, lost love and a mythic King of Britain,
Cymbeline will play
from June 7 - July 1. The Festival
’s second production will be the only
comedy Shakespeare set in his own time period, in a small English town:
audience favorite
The Merry Wives of Windsor will play from July 5-29,
2012. Festival directors Principal casting will be announced in October
and December, respectively.
Season subscriptions are set to go on sale October 1 on the company's
website.
At CenterStage
A Christmas Carol
for Two Actors
Dec 15-24
Macbeth
February 9-26
Shakespeare & Galileo
Feb 22 – March 11
On Stage @ Maymont
A Midsummer Night's Dream
May 9, 7pm
15th Annual RSF
English Heritage & Myth
Cymbeline
June 7–July 1, 8pm
The Merry Wives of Windsor
July 5–29, 8pm
Second Tuesdays
Staged Readings
730p
The Tempest,
October 11
The Tragedy of Arthur,
Nov. 8
Holiday Stories
– Dec. 13
Desdemona, a Play About a
Handkerchief
by Paula Vogel
– February 14
As You Like It,
Performed by the
Festival Young Company
– March 13
Shakespeare in the Trailer Park,
by V. Mark Covington – April 10
