Lear, 7 Stages Shakespeare

/ Millrise /

"What is identity based on when you strip everything else away? How do we identify inside all of our social and familial circles? How do we identify inside of ourselves?

ear is an exploration of one of Shakespeare's most daunting and famous texts, King Lear, combining the stylistic expression of the internationally renowned company Passion in Practice, New York Shakespeare Company and the "gritty, dirt on your knees Shakespeare" approach you've come to know and love from Seven Stages Shakespeare Company.

By exploring this play through the lens of Alzheimer's Disease, we hope to drive a dialogue about memory and legacy on a personal, communal and global level. 

Stripping the space to its bare bones, we'll explore one of Shakespeare's most daunting and famous texts-- the story of a family dealing with what they are all capable of in the face of inevitable loss and the power and beauty of forgiveness in those trying times.”

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Macbeth, The Vagrancy

/ The Shakespeare Center of LA/

Haunted by the prophecies of three nightmarish witches and bolstered by his ambitious wife, Macbeth's thirst for power propels him down a path of tyranny, murder and madness. Featuring butoh-inspired choreography and gruesome stage combat, Hart's aggressive cut, set in a mythological Scotland, promises to be an unnerving and eerie fusion of classic and modern futility.

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Macbeth, University of Nevada UNLV Conservatory

/ UNLV Black Box Theatre/

The Nevada Conservatory Theatre kicks-off the Halloween season with Shakespeare's ghostly Macbeth October. 14-30 in the Black Box Theatre. Darren Weller directs. A Scottish general receives a prophecy from three witches that changes the course of his life. Driven by ambition to become King, Macbeth will kill anyone that gets in his way. Paranoia, deception, and treachery consume Macbeth and his wife, as they come to terms with his prophesied fate.

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Romeo and Juliet, Lovers and Madmen 

/ Levitt Pavillion/

“Lovers and Madmen is a Los Angeles based Theatre Production company. producing the works of Shakespeare as well as other classical and modern writers. We perform all over the Los Angeles Area and bring artistic integrity, quality, and vision to everything we do. We have worked with the cities of Los Angeles, West Hollywood, and Pasadena to help bring free Shakespeare in the Park to communities and families across the city.”

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Hamlet, Inner Circle Theatre   

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To quote the play, ‘something is rotten in the state of Denmark’ and yet, ‘there is no thing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.’ Accordingly, this production is far from ‘traditional.’ Zeroing in on divergences of perception and reality, of thoughts and actions, director Matt Hill and Inner Circle Theatre stage a multimedia adaptation of the 400-year-old classic.

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The Winter's Tale, Seattle Shakespeare Company

/ Leo K. Theatre at Seattle Repertory Theatre/

Two generations overcome past wrongs and misjudgments in this exotic and magical saga. Obsessive King Leontes accuses his queen, Hermione, of having an affair and sentences her to a trial. Meanwhile their infant daughter gets spirited away to a distant shore. Sixteen years later, through fate and love, the young woman discovers her true heritage and reunites her family.

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The Tempest, Shakespeare Theatre Company

/ Sidney Harman Hall/

“We kick off the season with the beloved annual Washington tradition, Free For All, bringing back STC favorite Ethan McSweeny with The Tempest. In McSweeny’s glittering production, Prospero’s magical island explodes with life, hosting sprites, goddesses and fools that hold court and delight all ages.

Prospero, the deposed Duke of Milan and now a powerful magician, raises a great storm to wreck the vessel bearing his betrayers onto the shores of the mysterious island he has made his home. There, attended upon by his daughter, a magical sprite and a villainous prisoner, Prospero leads them through a mysterious dream on the course from vengeance to reconciliation. Trickery and magic, romance and revenge set the stage for Shakespeare’s crowning masterpiece.” –from company website

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The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Shakespeare & Company

/ Tina Packer Playhouse/

"Boy meets girl. Boy loves girl. Boy’s best friend meets girl and also loves girl. Hilarity ensues as love is professed, secret plans are made, and friendships are betrayed. This early romantic comedy takes a gleeful look at the fickle nature of young love and features one of Shakespeare’s most engaging comic heroines, two of his funniest clowns, and the best role ever for a dog.” –from the company website

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Love’s Labour’s Lost, Willamette Shakespeare  

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"Willamette Shakespeare's mission is to produce and perform quality classical theatre, free of charge, for the purpose of education, enrichment, and entertainment to residents of and visitors to Oregon's Willamette Valley. Our shows tour multiple communities in our region, creating a family-friendly environment, and aiming to reach a broad audience of both seasoned fans of theatre and newcomers. While Willamette Shakespeare does not restrict itself to a particular genre or style of production, the company strives to create theatre that is accessible to contemporary audiences while honoring the rich history of classical theatre performance."

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The Comedy of Errors, Camden Shakespeare Festival

/ High Mountain Hall/

“The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare’s first comedy, delivers non-stop humorous high jinks. The show has it all: madcap comedy, mistaken identity, seduction, slapstick, verbal sparring, vaudeville, two sets of twins, and a family reunion beyond belief. The Comedy of Errors packs a comedic wallop! This production will be presented indoors at High Mountain Hall.”

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Timon of Athens, Oregon Shakespeare Festival 

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Money can’t buy everything. Timon is a wealthy man with lots of friends, but when the money runs out, so do they. Realizing he should have listened to the people who tried to warn him—a servant, a soldier and a sworn enemy—Timon turns his back on the world. But the world finds him again when he stumbles upon another fortune. Is this Timon’s chance to find out who his true friends are and rejoin society? Amanda Dehnert (Julius Caesar, My Fair Lady) directs Shakespeare’s rarely staged tragedy, whose inclusion in the 2016 repertory will mark the fourth time OSF has completed the canon.

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The Tempest, Camden Shakespeare Festival

/ Camden Library Amphitheatre/

"Starring John Burstein, The Tempest is set on a remote island inhabited by the exiled sorcerer Prospero, his beautiful daughter, Miranda, and a host of otherworldly creatures and spirits, including the monstrous Caliban and ethereal Ariel.

Prospero conjures a tempest to shipwreck his usurping brother Antonio along with his entourage, the complicit King of Naples and his son Ferdinand. Through his magical arts, Prospero exposes his brother's treachery, redeems the King and restores Miranda to her proper station through marriage to Ferdinand. Believed to be Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest offers the Bard's reflections upon the power of theater itself.

By turns deeply moving, visually stunning, humorous and romantic, The Tempest is a lush illusion, rich with poetry and dazzling theatrical magic. This production will feature an abundance of song, as well as genuine illusions designed by a professional magician. The Tempest will be presented outdoors in the Camden Library Amphitheater."

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Love's Labour's Lost, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company

/ Boston Common/

"In Love’s Labour’s Lost, friendship and loyalty amongst four young men and four young women are put to the test when romantic youthful notions of love encounter the challenges of adulthood. A high-spirited romantic comedy filled with dazzling wordplay, strong comic characters and a few unexpected twists, Love's Labour's Lost both charms and touches the heartstrings of young and old alike.

“Love’s Labour’s Lost for me is about growing up, about leaving behind adolescent attitudes towards love and gaining an understanding of the power and responsibility of loving another person,” says Maler. “Though it’s an early play, it has terrific language and indelible characters. Many of the themes, characters and situations in the play are explored in Shakespeare’s later plays, so you get to see the young Shakespeare at work in Love’s Labour’s Lost. The play for me became an anchor for the 2016 season, "Love On The Rocks", as we explore refractions and reflections on the enigmatic, magical and effervescent mystery of love.”

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The Tragedy of Richard the Third, MaineStage Shakespeare

/ Lafayette Park, Kennebunk, ME 04043, USA/

“The War of the Roses is over, and an exhausted, blood-soaked England is ready for peace at last. But for one man, peace is not enough. Disfigured, embittered, and gleefully amoral, Richard of York invites the audience to join him as he cuts down every obstacle between him and the crown. The original tale of charismatic villainy (and the inspiration for a slew of contemporary baddies on stage and screen), the homicidal, hair-raising Tragedy of Richard III reminds us that evil can be witty, insidious fun.”         

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All's Well That Ends Well, MaineStage Shakespeare

/ Lafayette Park, Kennebunk, ME 04043, USA/

“The heart wants what the heart wants. And Helena’s heart wants Bertram, the handsome young nobleman in whose house she grew up. The only catch: he wants nothing to do with her. That’s the set-up for Shakespeare’s toothiest comedy, a sassy send-up of love, desire, and the mistakes of youth. Packed with colorful characters and some of the Bard’s best gags, All’s Well That Ends Well asks us: how far will you go to be with the one you love?”   

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Cymbeline, Green Stage

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Pity poor Imogen! Her dad, King Cymbeline, banishes her love Posthumus from the kingdom because he wants her to marry royally and produce a proper heir. The Queen, her stepmother, wants her own son Cloten to marry her and plots to kill both Imogen and Cymbeline in a power grab. Posthumus, in Italy, makes a really dumb bet that leads to lots of trouble. Palace intrigue, treachery, murder plots, and deception challenge the characters of Cymbeline who, with the help of two surprise players, overcome mistrust and jealousy to live happily ever after. Except the Queen and Cloten, who as bad guys get what they deserve.

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Merry Wives of Windsor, Green Stage 

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Sir John Falstaff arrives in Windsor somewhat short on cash, and decides his best remedy for the situation is to marry a rich woman. He sets about courting the married Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, sending identical letters to each. The merry wives quickly figure out Falstaff’s game, and while they’re not at all interested in his advances, they lead him on in order to play a series of jokes and indignities on him. Meanwhile, three suitors compete for the hand of Page’s daughter, Anne. Who will win? And what of the others in this tale of love and marriage, jealousy and revenge?   

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Twelfth Night, Green Stage 

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"One of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies and our original Backyard Bard play, Twelfth Night features a love quadrangle and some very trying houseguests who show no intention of leaving! Twins Viola and Sebastian are separated in a shipwreck. Viola, disguised as the boy Cesario, is the intermediary as Duke Orsino attempts to woo the wealthy countess Olivia. Of course, Olivia falls for Cesario, and Sebastian’s unexpected arrival on the scene leads to some hilarious complications. Will everyone end up with a spouse? Will it be the one they expect?"

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Pericles, Green Stage

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Pericles is a risk-taker. He realizes that whatever answer he gives to a riddle will get him killed. So begins an epic journey of ambitious risks, great rewards, and big falls for the Prince of Tyre. Pericles marries, has a daughter, and is separated from both along the way; shipwrecks always seem to happen at the darndest times. All three of them lead strange, marvelous lives and travel convoluted pathways to the end, when they’re miraculously reunited.

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Hamlet, Seattle Shakespeare Company

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After receiving news of his father’s death, a young man comes home to a much changed world. Doubt, uncertainty, and grief dog him at every turn. Struggling to make sense of the new order, Hamlet faces a crossroad. He can consent, or rage against the injustice around him. Rich with soaring language, Shakespeare’s masterpiece opens up with fresh insights with each new viewing.

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