In June, The Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF) kicked off a season of Shakespeare’s most popular plays and one award-winning new play with a Shakespearean twist.
The summer season begins with “Twelfth Night,” opening outdoors in the Mary Rippon Theatre at the University of Colorado Boulder. “As You Like It” kicks off the indoor season in the University Theatre. Both productions feature live music composed specifically for CSF.
The season also features “Romeo and Juliet” outdoors, as well as a Bard-inspired work indoors. In “King Charles III: A Future History Play,” playwright Mike Bartlett uses Shakespearean-styled verse to envision a near future where personal privacy, public betrayals and a threat to free press collide in the days following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Schedule:
• “Twelfth Night,” June 7-Aug. 11. This comedy about thorny love triangles, mistaken identities and a pair of twins lost at sea will feature original live music composed and performed onstage by Rinde Eckert. Amber Scales, who made her CSF debut in 2018’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” leads the play as Viola. Colorado theatre favorites Robert Sicular and Rodney Lizcano are also set to perform, as Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, respectively.
• “As You Like It,” June 21-Aug. 10. Playing indoors at the University Theatre and directed by Carolyn Howarth, “As You Like It” features an intimate cast of eight actors playing all 19 roles in the script. The cast performs live folk/Americana music onstage composed by Sam Misner, who is on-site for a two-week residency to collaborate with the cast during rehearsals.
• “Romeo and Juliet,” July 7-Aug. 10. “Romeo and Juliet,” Shakespeare’s epic romantic tragedy, features extensive sword fighting on stage, choreographed by director Christopher DuVal. Hugh Hanson is designing the costumes, which will feature elaborate, couture takes on the Renaissance period.
• “King Charles III,” July 19-Aug. 11. Mike Bartlett’s “future history play” borrows the form of a Shakespearean history to imagine what goes on behind the scenes with the living British Royal Family. This production is the regional premiere of the Critics’ Circle Awardwinner and Olivier Award-winner for Best New Play, as well as Tony nominee for Best New Play.
• “King John,” Aug. 4. Part of CSF’s Original Practices tradition, this sold-out, one-night-only event will feature the CSF company performing Shakespeare’s “King John” in the original style his audiences might have enjoyed in the early 1600s.
Tickets start at $17. For information visit https://cupresents.org/series/shakespeare-festival/
Image credit: cupresents.org