Southwest Shakespeare Company
By Bill Cain
Feb. 28 – March 22, 2014
Anita Farnsworth Theater
Mesa Arts Center
1 East Main Street, Mesa, AZ 85201
(480) 644 6500
In London, 1605, a down-and-out playwright called Shagspeare receives a royal commission to write a play promoting the government’s version of the Guy Fawkes’ Gunpowder Plot. As Shag navigates the dangerous course between writing a lie or losing his head, his devoted theatre troupe helps him negotiate each step along the way.
Chicago Shakespeare Festival
March 13 – May 4, 2014
Directed by Gary Griffin
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Associate Artistic Director Gary Griffin brings you not one, but two musicals, Gypsy and Road Show, that feature the extraordinary talents of Stephen Sondheim—both inspired by real stories of ambitious Americans in pursuit of their dreams. Based on the lives of the boldly enterprising brothers Addison and Wilson Mizner, the musical journey of Road Show spans forty years—from the Alaskan Gold Rush to the Florida real estate boom in the 1930s. Traversing the continent in a variety of get-rich-quick schemes, the brothers stick together through experiences that change their lives in unexpected ways.
Seattle Shakespeare Company
March 19-Apr. 13, 2014
Directed by Victor Pappas
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Oscar Wilde’s outlandish masterpiece is one of the cleverest comedies in the English language. Dapper Jack Worthing and Algernon, his compatriot in cavorting, have fallen for two ladies who have their hearts set on marrying a man named Ernest. In order to pursue the romance, both men concoct an elaborate deception which leads to an even more outlandish surprise when the formidable Lady Bracknell starts sleuthing about for the far-fetched truth.
Chicago Shakespeare Festival
March 30 – April 13, 2014
Adaptor/Director: Emma Rice
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Lauded all around the world for its trademark vitality, the artistic collective from Cornwall, England, Kneehigh makes its long-awaited Chicago debut with the iconic work that first catapulted the company to international fame. Marrying gorgeous music and ingenious staging with cheeky humor and Wagnerian intensity, Kneehigh now reimagines one of the world’s oldest love stories. Cornish King Mark is at war; he rules with his head, not his heart. But he hasn’t counted on falling head over heels for his enemy’s sister, or expected the arrival of the enigmatic Tristan.
Folger Theatre
April 17 – May 25, 2014
Directed by Ben Steinfeld and Jessie Austrian
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Apr. 24-May 11, 2014
Directed by Sheila Daniels
Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center
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The ultimate family drama matched by intense political intrigue, King Lear traces an aging monarch’s descent into madness. Weary of his royal duties, King Lear elects to distribute his lands among his three daughters. But sweet falsities and hubris blind Lear to the true motives of those around him, scorching king and kingdom to ashes with consequences that unearth the worst and best in human nature.