Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival Announces 2017 Season

The Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival (NDSF) has announced its 2017 summer offerings, two beloved comedies and a kick-off celebration. The season begins with ShakeScenes, the Festival's annual Shakespeare mash-up featuring actors of all ages. Next, the Festival's touring company will bring Twelfth Night to parks and gardens throughout the region. Finally, the professional company will present Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare's touching comedy starring word warriors, Beatrice and Benedick.

The touring company is made up of students from the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's College, and universities throughout the Midwest. In addition to performing Twelfth Night, these students participate on and off stage in Much Ado About Nothing and receive nine weeks of training in all areas of stagecraft. Twelfth Night will be directed by Cameron Knight, returning for his second year as director of the NDSF touring company. "In our modern, corporate world of go-go-go electronics, too often we miss the beauty and love right in front of us," said Knight. "We will highlight Shakespeare's tale of mistaken identity, love misplaced and love actualized with the music of today: pop, rock, and rap, all generated live on stage." Twelfth Night will perform throughout Southwestern Michigan and Northern Indiana from July 16 though August 21, 2017.

Presented by professional actors, designers, and directors, Much Ado About Nothing will perform at Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center from August 15-27, 2017. When men come home from war, marriage is on their minds, but will all end well in sun-drenched Italy Actors Theatre of Louisville regular Drew Fracher returns to direct, having helmed the well-received 2015 NDSF production of The Winter's Tale. Fracher describes his take on Much Ado About Nothing as evoking "the jubilant feelings at war's end, while incorporating music, dance, and design elements from the end of the second World War."

The Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, Notre Dame's professional theatre in residence, is one component of Shakespeare at Notre Dame, a program that also includes the McMeel Family Chair in Shakespeare Studies and Actors From The London Stage, a world-renowned Shakespeare touring company. The mission of Shakespeare at Notre Dame is to establish the University nationally and internationally as a center for the study of Shakespeare in performance. Visit shakespeare.nd.edu to learn more.