Photo Flash: Meet the Cast of Riverbank Shakespeare Festival's THE WAR OF THE ROSES

After a one-year absence, Acorn Productions once again offers area residents a chance to see live Shakespeare in downtown Westbrook's pastoral Riverbank Pank, located along the Presumpscot River on Main Street. This year's Riverbank Shakespeare Festival features two productions: The War of the Roses, directed by Michael Levine, and The Tempest, directed by Karen Ball and featuring the teen actors in Acorn's Young Actors Shakespeare Conservatory. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast below!

Due to their length and inordinately large casting demands, Shakespeare's three parts of Henry VI are rarely performed; thus Acorn's production offers audiences a rare opportunity to see several of Shakespeare's earliest hits compiled into one full-length play full of political intrigue, swordfights, backstabbing, and some of England's most exciting history. The Tempest, often credited with being Shakespeare's last complete work solely authored by him, revolves around the deposed Duke of Milan's efforts to regain his kingdom through his command of magical spirits who live on the enchanted island to which he was banished. Both productions, comprising the Riverbank Shakespeare Festival, are free; there is a $10 suggested donation. Audiences are welcome to set up picnic chairs and enjoy the ambience a half-hour before the shows begin. For more information, contact Acorn Productions at 854-0065 or visit www.acorn-productions.org.

The War of the Roses represents director Michael Levine's most ambitious foray into Shakespeare's canon with the Naked Shakespeare actors. The three Henry VI plays follow over fifty years of English history during the country's bloody civil war that followed the death of Henry V and the ascension of his nine-month old son Henry VI to the throne. After the loss of all the country's gains in France, political stability unraveled as Richard, Duke of York, a close cousin of Henry's, began to assert a claim to the throne dating back to the deposition of Richard II by Henry's grandfather Bolingbrook. In Shakespeare's capable hands, the story of the battles between the Lancasters (red roses) and the Yorks (white roses), along with the power broking of Warwick "The Kingmaker," becomes an examination of the power of ambition and greed to create anarchy and topple a divided state. Levine's production takes place in modern times, with the two adversarial sides recast as the two political powers in Washington playing a deadly game of chicken.

Shakespeare's The Tempest, adapted and performed by Acorn Production's Teen Shakespeare Conservatory under the direction of Karen Ball, is the tale of a patriarchal usurper of Prospera's dukedom by Alonso, who finds himself and his crew shipwrecked on the mythical and mystical island of Avalon. The sorceress Prospera, who has nurtured her art during her banishment, discovers that some virtues trump the need for revenge. The Young Actors Shakespeare Conservatory is a rigorous six month class in which students of varying ages hone their classical acting technique while performing The Tempest as their final project.

The Riverbank Shakespeare Festival features performances in the style of Acorn's Naked Shakespeare series, in which technical elements are minimized in order to focus the audience's attention on the language and imagery of Shakespeare's plays. The War of the Rosesfeatures many actors familiar from the company's previous Riverbank Shakespeare festivals as well as monthly Wine Bar shows, joined by a number of new apprentices from the Acorn Shakespeare Conservatory, a training program for actors that began in the fall at about the same time as the Young Actors Shakespeare Conservatory. While the unexpected closure of Portland's Wine Bar brought to a halt Naked Shakespeare's recently resuscitated series of monthly shows at that location, the company continues to tour its unique blend of speeches and short scenes to area venues, including an upcoming run of three shows this summer at the Thomas Memorial Library in Cape Elizabeth.

The Yorks and Lancasters battle it out

Prince Edward, King Henry, and Margaret

Clarence, Edward, Richard, and Gloucester

Suffolk, King Henry, Margaret

King Henry, Warwick, and Richard