Hawaii Shakespeare Festival Announces 2019 Season

The Hawaii Shakespeare Festival's (HSF) eighteenth season kicks off with Shakespeare's final masterpiece, The Tempest, opening July 12. Next up is Much Ado About Nothing, opening August 1. The season concludes with Shakespeare's dark tragedy, Macbeth, opening August 9.

Jordan Cho, first-time director with HSF, helms our season opener The Tempest at The ARTS at Marks Garage. Cho incorporates elements from tarot and sacred geometry in order to connect the magic of the play with a more modern, mystic aesthetic. Lala Buzzell stars as the wizard Prospera with HSF newcomer Makena Duffy as her sprite Ariel. Sean-Joseph Choo plays the creature Caliban and also composes original music for the show.

For our second production HSF is partnering with Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives to present Much Ado About Nothing a romantic comedy of codpieces and fake news outdoors. Director Jason Kanda is collaborating with choreographer Chloe Amos to create improvised lyrical movement to complement the musicality of Shakespeare's language which will be performed by masked movers onstage and read by offstage speakers. Featuring CJ Valle (speaker) and Jonathan Reyn (mover) as Beatrice, and HSF newcomers KoDee Martin (speaker) and Kaipo Dudoit (mover) as Benedick.

Our 2019 season concludes with Shakespeare's Macbeth at The ARTS at Marks Garage, directed by Taurie Kinoshita. The violent tragedy of Scotland's last Celtic King features Nicolas Logue (previously seen as the lead in HSF's Henry VIII) as Macbeth, Jaime Bradner (seen at HSF last season as the lead in Hedda Gabler) as Lady Macbeth, and former West-End performer Alexander Durrant as Macduff.

New this season is that all shows will run for three weekends each, so more chances to see all of the shows! Advance tickets for The Tempest and Macbeth are $20 online at HawaiiShakes.org until two hours prior to each performance. $15 Discounted tickets are available for Thursday performances. Ticket prices increase by $5 if you pay at the door. Tickets for Much Ado About Nothing are $25 and are available at MissionHouses.org. For more information, including maps and directions, visit HawaiiShakes.org.