This season, The Utah Shakespeare Festival presents four timeless Shakespeare productions you won’t want to miss out on.
“It’s a season to stimulate minds and hearts in ways in which only Shakespeare can,” Interim Artistic Director Derek Charles Livingston said.
In the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are the perfect plays to watch under the stars– literally. Our open air theatre allows for a magical experience; come and see what it’s like to watch Shakespeare’s plays in our very own replica of The Globe.
Now open, Timon of Athens and Coriolanus are two rarely-performed Shakespeare productions directed by OBIE Award-winner Lisa Peterson. Actor Elijah Alexander from the hit TV series The Chosen has been cast in both productions!
(Karl Hugh | Utah Shakespeare Festival 2023, sponsored) Zacory Packer as Changeling Child (left) and Cassandra Bissell as Titania in the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Directed by Jessica Kubzansky, this luxurious tale of fairies, dreams, and moonlight is Shakespeare’s most popular comedy.
Corey Jones has returned to the Festival as Theseus/Oberon, with Topher Embrey as Nick Bottom and Alex Keiper as Petra Quince.
This comedy will have you entranced in its mystical world and result in you asking yourself; “Am I dreaming, too?”
Romeo and Juliet
A timeless tale of “star-cross’d lovers,” Romeo and Juliet tells how two young people rise above their families’ hatred and find love. The price of love is tragic, and its lesson is what makes this one of Shakespeare’s best known, most loved, and more enduring tragedies.
Cassandra Bissell has been cast as Lady Capulet, with Ty Fanning as Romeo and Naiya Vanessa McCalla as Juliet. The beloved Betsy Mugavero, who was Juliet in the 2017 production of Romeo and Juliet, returned to the Festival to direct this production.
(Karl Hugh | Utah Shakespeare Festival 2023, sponsored) Ty Fanning as Romeo and Naiya Vanessa McCalla as Juliet in the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2023 production of Romeo and Juliet.
Coriolanus
An arrogant, proud and hot-headed military hero, Coriolanus is seduced by the notion of becoming Rome’s ruler.
Featuring Elijah Alexander as Tullus Aufidius, Jasmine Bracey has returned to the Festival as Menenius Agrippa, with James Ryen as Caius Martius Coriolanus.
This rarely produced play’s themes of ambition, love, family, and power will crackle in our intimate Anes Theatre.
(Karl Hugh | Utah Shakespeare Festival 2023, sponsored) Jasmine Bracey as Menenius Agrippa and James Ryen as Coriolanus in the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2023 production of Coriolanus.
Timon of Athens
Timon’s compulsive generosity makes him the most popular man in Athens– until his wealth is suddenly gone.
Peterson is also directing this play, casting Elijah Alexander as Timon, with Nell Geisslinger as Apemantus and Sheila Tousey as Flavius.
A play for our times, Timon of Athens is satiric and deeply moving as it explores friendship, wealth, and the foibles of a materialistic society.
Interim Managing Director Michael Bahr described the culmination of Shakespeare productions as a “kaleidoscope of choices.”
This season, there is a Shakespeare production for everyone, a “brilliant buffet of compelling plays for every palette,” Bahr said.
We invite you to deep dive into the fun of a Shakespeare feast and believe in the power of theatre.
Contrasting with three other popular and profound productions this season––Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical, The Play That Goes Wrong, and A Raisin in the Sun––Bahr noted that Shakespeare’s plays will provide social commentary in ways that only the Bard can.
Use code SLTrib23 for $10 off regular price tickets– subject to availability. For more information or to purchase tickets for the 2023 season, visit bard.org or call 800-PLAYTIX.