OTHELLO Opens this Week at Shakespeare Festival St. Louis

Complimentary backstage tours, 20-minute Talkback sessions and Green Show activities will highlight some of the festivities surrounding this year's Shakespeare Festival St. Louis' production of "Othello," which opens this week at Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park. Performances are scheduled nightly at 8 p.m. May 25-June 17 (excluding Tuesdays).

The official opening night is set for this Friday, May 25; preview performances will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, May 23-24.

In addition, an expanded version of Shake-38, a wildly successful urban reading of Shakespeare's 38-play canon, continues its run throughout the city. The citywide event has been expanded to a five-day marathon reading/performance that began May 18 and will culminate with the first preview performance of the Bard's play, "Othello," at 8 p.m., May 23 in Forest Park. Approximately 300 St. Louisans are expected to recreate Shakespeare's work in extremely varying settings each of the five days.

The organization just recently concluded a weekend of free public performances of Shakespeare in the Streets, an event that featured professional actors performing alongside residents of the Benton/Gravois Park neighborhood. The neighborhood-inspired show represented the largest programming expansion since the founding of Shakespeare Festival St. Louis in 2001.

"We are truly enhancing the Shakespearean experience this year. We are taking the Bard's works and performing them in the schools, in the streets and, ultimately, in the park." said Rick Dildine, executive director of Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. "Our goal is to make Shakespeare accessible to people of all ages and the best part is that everything is free."

This year's set designer for "Othello" is Robbie Jones, who has created award-winning designs in theaters across the country and currently serves as an Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Jones developed the show's backdrop under the direction of Bruce Longworth. This marks the first time a director will return for a second production in the history of the festival. Longworth has been a faculty member in the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University since 1985 and is currently head of the acting program. He has worked extensively in St. Louis and around the country as a director, actor, and voice and dialect coach. Costume Director Lou Bird is returning to the festival where his last design was the 2007 production of "Much Ado About Nothing."

Audience members arriving early for "Othello" will have the opportunity to take a complimentary backstage tour. Tours, which begin at 6:30 p.m. and last approximately 30 minutes, will start in front of the stage in Shakespeare Glen.

A 20-minute Talkback discussion will be held nightly following each performance. Talkbacks invite audiences to participate in lively and enlightening conversations about the shows.

Nightly pre-performance Green Show entertainment starts at 6:30 p.m. and features 20-minute performances of "Othello in a Breath" and an expanded lineup of local entertainers including Death By Tickle – Astounding Feats of Absurdity featuring Juggling Jeff and Oh My Gosh Josh, and new acts including Aerialist Indie Lou, the Big Muddy Dance Company, and St. Louis' Osuwa Taiko.

In the past 11 years, the Shakespeare Festival has attracted more than a half million people to the performances in Forest Park. Last year's show, "The Taming of the Shrew," drew a season attendance record of 63,000 people. The organization has reached an additional 235,000 students through its educational touring productions, school programs, summer camps and community partnerships. For more information, please visit www.sfstl.com or call 314/531-9800.