LMU's Shakespeare On The Bluff Summer Festival Presents THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR And MACBETH

Loyola Marymount University's popular Shakespeare on the Bluff festival returns this summer with performances of "The Merry Wives of Windsor" on June 22-24 and "Macbeth" on July 20-22.

This marks the sixth season for the annual event, which since 2018 has performed nine plays by Shakespeare, in addition to a performance of several of his sonnets.

"As we work our way through the canon, we wanted to pair two fun and challenging plays that were enjoyable in very different ways," said LMU's Kevin Wetmore, professor of theatre arts and the artistic director of Shakespeare on the Bluff. "So, come laugh at a light, goofy comedy and then delight in the darkness and dread of Shakespeare's bloody tragedy. As always, we want to present something for everyone."

Shakespeare on the Bluff is produced by LMU Theatre Arts and the College of Communication and Fine Arts and takes place on the outdoor Drollinger Family Stage in Lawton Plaza.

"The works of Shakespeare provide a glimpse and personification of the range of human experience and relationship negotiations; some light and some dark," said LMU CFA Dean Bryant Keith Alexander. "His work serves as a template of sociality to which we should study as both entertainment and discernment."

The event this year adds extra Thursday performances in June and July, making the festival under the stars a six-night free event. All shows begin at 8 p.m. and are 90 minutes long, family friendly, and open to the public. Low lawn chairs and picnics on the lawn are welcome; the doors open at 6 p.m.

The Merry Wives of Windsor

directed by Nenad "Neno" Pervan
June 22-24, 2023, 8 p.m.
This classic Shakespeare comedy is about love, marriage, jealousy, lies and pranking. When Sir John Falstaff woos Mistress Ford and Mistress Page at the same time, they are already aware of his plan and decide to outwit and humiliate him instead. Meanwhile, three suitors seek the hand of Anne Page and she must also outwit her father to marry the man she loves. Silly, funny, and eminently entertaining.

Macbeth

directed by Jo Ann Mendelson
July 20-22, 2023, 8 p.m.
"By the pricking of our thumbs, something wicked this way comes." Join us in the darkest night for Shakespeare's tragic tale of witches, ghosts, murder most foul, and prophecies of doom. Macbeth and his wife plot to become rulers of Scotland, but their reign falls apart into violence, paranoia and betrayal.