The Woodward Shakespeare Festival is a theater company that performs three plays each summer in Fresno, California. The festival performs both Shakespearean and Non-Shakespearean productions from June to September. [1]
The Woodward Shakespeare Festival is a non-profit organization that has provided free local entertainment for the past ten years in Fresno, CA. The Woodward Shakespeare Festival perform their plays on an outdoor stage at Woodward Park (Fresno). The festival is funded through donations and by local sponsorship & patronage. [2]
From 2010, the theater company has produced two Shakespeare plays each summer, until 2011 when the company expanded its season with a third play written by an author besides William Shakespeare. On average, the festival attracts more than 10,000 patrons each year.
In addition to staged performances during the summer, the Woodward Shakespeare Festival has also produced other forms of Shakespearean entertainment such as Staged Readings of various plays at the Woodward Park Library. In 2012, The Woodward Shakespeare Festival participated in the Fresno Rogue Festival, performing a comedy routine based on the bard and his work. [3]
In 2013, the festival began a new summer youth program called, The YES Project. The program is in partnership with Fresno Pacific University and hosts local teens for a 3 1/2-week summer workshop exploring Shakespearean style and devising original material based on a Shakespeare play. [4]
In 2005, The Woodward Shakespeare festival staged its first season. The theater company was originally conceived by S. Eric Day and Brandon Weis. Christien Sweeney also joined the company and, with Day, helmed the first two seasons. In 2007, the company became an official non-profit organization in the public trust.
Marking the tenth anniversary of the festival, the upcoming season of the Woodward Shakespeare Festival will feature productions of Macbeth, directed by Artistic Director Greg Taber, The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Aaron Spjute, and The Tempest directed by Julie Ann Keller. [5]
Donald Munro, a local reviewer for the Fresno Bee, has often praised the productions put on by the Woodward Shakespeare Festival. In 2007, he declared their production of The Taming of the Shrew to be "Audacious and bold" and added, "it doesn't outlive its welcome. It's daring, fun and perfect for an outdoor summer breeze." [6] In 2011, Munro allotted praise for the company's production of All My Sons which was the company's first foray into Non-Shakespearean territory. After viewing a performance, Munro wrote in his review "There's no doubt "All My Sons" still has the power to move audiences. As I left my seat at the conclusion, I walked by three semi-stunned young men still grappling with the intensity of what they had just seen." [7]
Bard on the Beach is Western Canada's largest professional Shakespeare festival. The theatre Festival runs annually from early June through September in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Festival is produced by Bard on the Beach Theatre Society whose mandate is to provide Vancouver residents and tourists with affordable, accessible Shakespearean productions of the finest quality. In addition to the annual summer festival, the Society runs a number of year-round theatre education and training initiatives for both the artistic community and the general community at large. Bard on the Beach celebrated its 30th anniversary season in 2019.
The Great River Shakespeare Festival (GRSF) is a professional equity theatre company in Winona, Minnesota, a Mississippi River town in the southeastern part of the state. Starting in 2004, it has produced several simultaneous performances each summer, held at the Winona State University Performing Arts Center, with annual audiences of over 10,000. Its 16th season ends August 4, 2019.
Shakespeare Santa Cruz was an annual professional theatre festival in Santa Cruz, California, which ran from 1981 to 2013. After losing the financial support of the University of California, Santa Cruz, the company was relaunched through crowdfunding as Santa Cruz Shakespeare.
Shakespeare by the Sea was a summer outdoor event held at Balmoral Beach in Sydney's northern suburbs, using a band rotunda as a backdrop, that ran in summer for twenty-five seasons, from 1987 to 2011.
The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company (CSC) is a theatre company based in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 2002, by Ian Gallanar and Heidi Busch-Gallanar, the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company has grown into one of the twenty largest Shakespeare theaters in the United States under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director Ian Gallanar and Managing Director Lesley Malin. The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company has performance spaces in Baltimore and Elliott City, Maryland. Its main indoor space, the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company Theater opened in 2014 after a $7M renovation of the Mercantile Bank Building, a site listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, The Studio, is located next door on the fourth floor of the Merchants Club space and is used for educational programs, rehearsals and as an alternate performance space for CSC. They continue to perform outdoor every summer at the Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park in Ellicott City, Maryland.
The Colorado Shakespeare Festival is a professional acting company in association with the University of Colorado at Boulder. It was established in 1958, making it one of the oldest such festivals in the United States, and has roots going back to the early 1900s.
The Illinois Shakespeare Festival (ISF) is held in Bloomington, Illinois, United States at Ewing Theatre and in Normal, Illinois, United States at the Center for Performing Arts Theatre at Illinois State University. The Festival began in 1978 and will celebrate its 43nd season in the summer of 2021. The Festival usually presents three pieces by "The Bard" as a revolving rep, though occasionally the third piece is from a contemporaneous playwright.
The Pendley Open Air Shakespeare Festival is, as the name implies, an annual festival dedicated to the plays of William Shakespeare. It takes place at the beginning of August at Pendley Manor, a hotel in Tring, Hertfordshire.
The Long Island Shakespeare Festival, co-founded by Charles Townsend Wittreich Jr., is sponsored by Suffolk County Community College to provide Long Island residents and visitors quality professional theatre with emphasis on plays by William Shakespeare. In addition, it serves as a transition for student theatre artists and artisans from Long Island into the business of theatre. Former and current Long Island residents who have created careers in theatre return to the area to perform, direct or design. The Long Island Shakespeare Festival uses the production facilities of the Theatre Training Program at Suffolk Community College on Long Island, New York. The Festival, to foster the appreciation of Shakespearean theatre, makes each showing free of charge.
The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (HVSF) is a non-profit professional theater company based in Garrison, New York. The festival runs a roughly twelve-week repertory season each year, operating under a large open-air theater tent. Its productions attract a total audience of about 50,000 from the Hudson Valley, New York City, and 40 US states.
Shakespeare in Delaware Park is one of the largest free outdoor Shakespeare festivals in the country which takes place during summer months in Delaware Park located in the city of Buffalo, New York. The festival attracts about 40,000 audience members each year.
The Nashville Shakespeare Festival is a Shakespeare festival in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Pantaloons are an English touring theatre company specialising in open-air productions of the plays of William Shakespeare. Their work draws from a wide variety of popular theatre traditions, and is often performed for free in public spaces.
Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival is an international theatre festival devoted to the idea of the Elizabethan theatre, and especially to the works of William Shakespeare. The event was first organized in 1993, on the initiative of Theatrum Gedanense Foundation, which had been created by Professor Jerzy Limon and Władysław Zawistowski, with Charles, Prince of Wales as its patron. Its original name, "Gdańsk Shakespeare Days" was transformed into "Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival" in 1997, during the celebration of Gdańsk's millennium.
Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This concept has been adapted by many theatre companies, and over time, this name has expanded to encompass outdoor theatre productions of the playwright's works performed all over the world.
The Hudson Classical Theater Company, formerly known as Hudson Warehouse is known for presenting outdoor theatre, including Shakespeare. They perform three outdoor plays in the summer months in Riverside Park and fall/winter productions at Goddard Riverside's Bernie Wohl Center. Known as "The Other Shakespeare in the Park," the company was founded in 2004 by Nicholas Martin-Smith, who serves as its artistic director. In 2021 it was renamed as Hudson Classical Theater Company.
Georgia Shakespeare was a professional, not-for-profit theatre company located in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States on the campus of Oglethorpe University from 1985-2014. Georgia Shakespeare produced three plays annually, primarily between June and November. Twelve educational programs were developed in the history of Georgia Shakespeare. These programs included "The High School Tour", a "High School Acting Competition", "Camp Shakespeare", a "High School Conservatory", a "No Fear Shakespeare" training program for educators, after school residencies, school tours, student matinees, classes for professionals, and in-school workshops. At its peak, it welcomed 60,000 patrons annually to its performances.
Delaware Shakespeare is an outdoor Shakespeare festival that takes place during the summer months at Rockwood Park located in the city of Wilmington, Delaware. The mission of the Delaware Shakespeare is to create professional theatre and educational programs in order to further the understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare’s works for the residents and friends of the State of Delaware.
Lucy Peacock is a Canadian actress best known for major stage roles at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada during the course of over 25 years.
The Bonn University Shakespeare Company e.V. (BUSC) is an independent theatre company based at the University of Bonn, Germany. It was founded by students of the Department of English, American, and Celtic Studies.
Coordinates: 36°51′58.6″N119°47′04.3″W / 36.866278°N 119.784528°W