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Outdoor Shakespeare Returns to Raleigh with TWO NOBLE KINSMEN, 5/23 - 5/31

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Bare Theatre concludes its bombastic ninth season with Two Noble Kinsmen: Fire & Shadows, a theatre/circus spectacle with food trucks in the beautiful outdoor setting beside the Raleigh Rose Garden. Following the critical and popular success of last summer's The Comedy of Errors, the company again teams up with Raleigh circus school Cirque de Vol Studios for a night of stunning drama, thrilling circus acts, pyrotechnics and shadow play. Alan Hall of CVNC said of The Comedy of Errors:

"The atmosphere is electric, the audience is enamored, and the cast is charged with an energy that flows right off the stage."

The show runs May 23-24 and May 29-31 (with rain dates May 25 & June 1) at Stephenson Amphitheatre at Raleigh Little Theatre. Gates and food trucks open at 6:30pm each night, and the show begins at 8:00pm. Lawn chairs, coolers and picnics are allowed but alcohol must be purchased on site at the RLT concessions stand.

Two Noble Kinsmen is a collaboration between William Shakespeare and John Fletcher - a renowned playwright of the day who took over Shakespeare's company after the bard's death. It is a retelling of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Knight's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales.

The play centers around a love triangle between two close cousins, princes who fall in love with the same woman. Though fast friends at the beginning, love and jealousy force them into a dangerous tournament in which the victor wins the lady and the loser is put to death. Though darker in tone than The Comedy of Errors or As You Like It, Two Noble Kinsmen delivers laughter and tears along with thrilling action, dazzling artistry, and heart-stopping stage combat.

Managing Director G. Todd Buker leads a cast of actors and circus artists to transport the audience to an ancient land of fantasy and legend, with a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern flair. The play is told with a mixture of live action and shadow play, alongside fire acts, pyrotechnics and bellydancing.

Bare Theatre is a Raleigh-based mobile theatre company that has received acclaim from publications around the Triangle. Bare is known for its minimalist, high-energy, physical approach to the works of Shakespeare and historical texts. Raleigh Little Theatre is one of the oldest community theaters in the nation, producing 11 productions per year and educating children across Wake County.

Cirque de Vol Studios, now in its second year, is a creative movement arts studio in downtown Raleigh that trains students of all ages in aerial silks, trapeze, acrobatics, yoga, poi, stilt-walking, juggling, fire dance and certification, hula hoop fitness, hoop dancing, and belly dance.

Tickets: 919.821.3111 or online: http://raleighlittletheatre.org/shows/13-14/kinsmen.html

Theater Fans' Choice Awards
2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats
Best Off-Broadway Musical - Top 3
1. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - New World Stages
23.6% of votes
2. Mexodus - Minetta Lane Theatre
12% of votes
3. Bat Boy - City Center
8.7% of votes

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