William Shakespeare News

Lookingglass Theatre Company announces an extension of In the Garden: A Darwinian Love Story, the World-Premiere production by Artistic Associate Sara Gmitter and directed by Jessica Thebus. The show now runs through Sunday, June 29, 2014. The two-week extension goes on sale to the public on Thursday, May 15, 2014. In the Garden runs at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson.

Prepare to be enchanted in this spectacle of a show, Bill Cain's, 2009 drama, Equivocation. Cain writes this daring masterpiece of a complex period involving the famed William Shakespeare. An erudite scholar and playwright of the time period, Cain delves into a clever yet intelligent fictional story, based on historical events. Directed by UCSB's own, Professor of Theater and Director of the BFA Actor Training Program, Irwin Appel, this intelligent play is about bonding friendship and commitment to each other, focusing on what lasts. This cinematic, dramatic show includes hangings and beheadings, demanding yet creating, a magnificent work of art.

Spectralia Theatre, in cooperation with Friends of the Parks and the Chicago Park District, presents William Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona June 21st to August 3rd. Set against the backdrop of the 1896 Yukon Gold Rush, The Two Gentlemen of Verona features prospectors, saloon gals, and outlaws. Follow this zany troupe as they travel from Verona to Yukon to seek their fortune and find love. This family-friendly, 90-minute version of The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a great introduction to Shakespeare as well as a new take on a classic comedy. Patrons are encouraged to bring picnics, blankets and/or chairs to this outdoor production.

The ninth annual Charlotte Shakespeare Festival opens with a musical, 1960s staging of William Shakespeare's Love's Labor's Lost from May 29 to June 15 at The Green. The festival moves indoors to the Booth Playhouse from August 7 to 24 with a 1970s staging of Measure for Measure.

Independent Shakespeare Co. (ISC) returns to the Old Zoo at Griffith Park for the 2014 season for itsGRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL with two plays by William Shakespeare: TWELFTH NIGHT and THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.

Three Day Hangover presents TWELFTH NIGHT, or Sir Toby Belch's Lonely Hearts Club Cabaret, their next immersive, boozy Shakespeare event performed in a bar. The first full production of their 2014 Season, TWELFTH NIGHT, written by William Shakespeare and adapted by Beth Gardiner, will be staged at McGee's Restaurant and Pub, 240 West 55th Street (bet. Broadway & Eighth Ave.) in NYC from June 6-30, 2014.

William Shakespeare's THE WINTER'S TALE has experienced intermittent popularity. With a complex structure, the play is a tragedy, comedy, and romance. Shakespeare draws large inspiration from Robert Greene's Pandosto, and some scholars claim the play is a parallel to the fall of Anne Boleyn. As we bid farewell to the longest winter in recent memory, Houston's Stark Naked Theatre Company is producing a whimsical and surprisingly touching take on THE WINTER'S TALE.

They do say that, when you are on a good thing, stick to it, and the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild is doing just that, inviting Megan Dansie to direct William Shakespeare's tragic love story,

We Players, in partnership with the National Park Service / Golden Gate National Recreation Area will present a site-integrated production of Shakespeare's Macbeth at Fort Point, the civil war era fortress located beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. The production previews May 30 - June 1, then runs June 5 - June 29, 2014, Thursday through Sunday.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Diane Paulus, Artistic Director and William Russo, Managing Director; presents the last production of its 2013/14 Season, THE TEMPEST, adapted and directed by Aaron Posner and Teller from the play by William Shakespeare, with magic by Teller, music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, and movement by Matt Kent of Pilobolus.

Penfold Theatre Company presents Romeo & Juliet June 5-28 free-of-charge at the Round Rock Amphitheater.

The Utah Shakespeare Festival recently revealed its 2015 season, eight exciting and diverse comedies, musicals, tragedies, and histories running from June to October. Artistic Directors David Ivers and Brian Vaughn announced the season, which includes four Shakespeare classics, a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, a classic American farce, one of the world's greatest suspense thrillers, and the story of the famous composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The award-winning Boomerang Theatre Company and Artistic Director Tim Errickson, are excited to announce A Boomerang Summer in the Park, where two of the most beloved works by William Shakespeare will be presented in Central Park & Bryant Park Shakespeare at Bryant Park, as part of the company's 15 years presenting exceptional outdoor theatre. A Boomerang Summer in the Park includes, Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, directed by John Greenleaf (The Acting Company, Steppenwolf, Australian Elizabethan Theatre), presented in Central Park (69th Street and Central Park West), June 21-July 20, 2014; and Shakespeare's LOVE'S LABOR'S LOST, directed by Cailin Heffernan (Loveless, TX), presented in Bryant Park (between 40th and 42nd St & Fifth and Sixth Avenues), August 14-30, 2014.

Today in 1982, Macbeth opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre, where it ran for 21 performances. Written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. The earliest account of a performance of what was probably Shakespeare's play is April 1611, when Simon Forman recorded seeing such a play at the Globe Theatre.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents William Shakespeare's epic Henry V, directed by celebrated British director Christopher Luscombe in his Chicago debut. In a rousing finale to the 2014 season, the play that inaugurated Chicago Shakespeare Theater in 1986 on the rooftop of Lincoln Park's Red Lion Pub comes to the Courtyard Theater for the first time. Shakespeare's powerful history play explores the consequences of war and the capacity of language to inspire and transform. Leading the troops as the charismatic, young monarch is Harry Judge in the titular role. Henry V will be performed in CST's Courtyard Theater April 29 through June 15, 2014. BroadwayWorld has a first look at highlights below!

The Hollywood Fringe Festival is just around the corner and this year, more than ever before, audiences will have an opportunity to see creative twists on some familiar classic plays, including some by Shakespeare. At last count, there were 8 productions scheduled to appear and, over the next few weeks, I'll be checking in with them to get the inside scoop so you can make the most of your Fringe experience. It's Shakespeare's 450th birthday this year; let the games begin.

The race is on to perform William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night on May 21, 2014 at The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto. These Challengers have volunteered their time and talent, and have committed to selling 7 tickets each to their friends, family, and colleagues for the gala performance!

According to published reports, playwright Charles Marowitz passed away on May 2 in Agoura Hills from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was 80 years old.

Best-selling author GP Taylor, whose work includes Shadowmancer, has urged the Government to replace William Shakespeare's plays for more modern works on the curriculum. He argues that teenagers cannot relate to the Bard. Taylor describes Shakespeare as 'dry' and says that more up-to-date books would ensure younger generations become enchanted with reading.