Will DeVary News

It's time to laugh this Friday, with Shakespeare's comedy of two pairs of separated twins! Hear the cicadas, watch the antics of some of our best comic actors, and lose yourself for just a little bit in the magic of Kentucky Shakespeare in the park.

Kentucky Shakespeare will present a special encore presentation of AS YOU LIKE IT by William Shakespeare Directed by Matt Wallace, a virtual free Kentucky Shakespeare Festival broadcast as a Facebook Premiere.

In the wake of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's controversial testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, on August 19 Louisville joined the growing ranks of cities to host a live reading of the Mueller Report.

Among the greatest of the plays written by William Shakespeare, there are several titular roles that are each a veritable Mt. Everest for actors; Charlton Heston called them the 'Man-killers', and I doubt they are any easier for women. Of these, the monarch named Lear stands as a particularly daunting challenge. It has often been said that if you are old enough to truly understand the unique blend of aging, madness, and arrogance required to play it, you may be too old to pull it off onstage.

Now comes the third chapter in director Amy Attaway's 'Game of Kings' series, which began with Richard II in 2017, followed by Henry IV, Part One a year ago, and will finish with Henry V in the summer of 2020.

Henry IV, Part II explores the precarious friendship of Prince Hal and Falstaff. The play is the third installment in the "Game of Kings" series, which wraps up with Henry V in 2020, the Festival's 60th season.

On February 25, in a ceremony held at Spalding University's Columbia Theatre Ballroom, Arts-Louisville Managing Editor Keith Waits presided over an awards presentation for excellence in theatre in Louisville and the surrounding area. Categories for student, professional, and locally produced productions were chosen by participants voting through Broadway World.com's online awards portal.

Kentucky Shakespeare kicks off its 59th annual free Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park with a comedy, a history, and a tragedy. The season begins with their professional productions of As You Like It May 29th, then Henry IV, Part II June 13th, followed by King Lear on June 27th. July 9th-21st all three performances will be presented in repertory. The season will be dedicated to the late Bekki Jo Schneider, former Producer of Kentucky Shakespeare and founder Doug Ramey's immediate successor. Last year we lost our dear friend Bekki Jo. She was instrumental in helping make the company what it is today, not only during her tenure here as an actor and leader but for years after as a mentor to me and to so many others in our community. We dedicate this season to her as we celebrate her life and legacy, said Matt Wallace, Producing Artistic Director.

It's the last week to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Louisville Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Louisville Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Louisville Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Louisville Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Louisville Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

What more pleasant way to spend a summer evening than outdoors in the heart of Old Louisville, surrounded by green space, with some of the loveliest turns of phrase ever written in the English language wafting on the breeze? Thanks to Kentucky Shakespeare and its supporters, we can do just that - free of charge - virtually all summer long in Louisville. What a treat, indeed!

Kentucky Shakespeare kicks off its 58th annual free Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park with a comedy, a history, and a tragedy. The season begins with their professional productions of The Comedy of Errors on May 30th, then Henry IV, Part I on June 14th, followed by Othello on July 28th. Each production will run for two weeks, followed by all three productions in rotating repertory July 10th-22nd. An addition to this year's schedule are Bard-A-Thon Double Feature Saturdays. On July 14th A Comedy of Errors and Othello will be performed and Othello and Henry IV, Part I will be performed on July 21st.

A good villain is hard to come by. Bad guys are hardly the type of characters you root for but when they suck you in-watch out! At Commonwealth Theater Center's annual Young Shakespeare Festival, the current installment of Richard III zeros in on the villainous King Richard who manipulates, slaughters and even delights in his bloody pursuits for power over England.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

Watching the current production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead from Kentucky Shakespeare was like seeing it for the first time, it's that fresh and smart. Tom Stoppard's post-modern masterpiece is absurdist and existential; catnip for academics in search of thesis projects concerning mid-Twentieth Century theatre, and director Amy Attaway's production is all of that, but also a deeply satisfying entertainment. You'll laugh a lot while you're in the theatre, and be thinking about the play long after you have left.