Soldiers returning home. Armies clashing in a bloody struggle for power. Government officials abusing their authority. These are the Shakespeare characters populating the post-election landscape at our theater partners around the U.S. this month.
Henry VI
Two of the Folger’s theater partners are taking on Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays this month, in which England experiences conflict at home and abroad. (You may have seen these plays in the news recently because of Oxford University Press’s decision to credit Christopher Marlowe as co-author in the New Oxford Shakespeare editions.)
In Georgia, the Atlanta Shakespeare Company at the Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse is performing Henry VI parts 1, 2, and 3 in repertory Nov. 12-27.
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- Amee Vyas (Margaret) in Henry VI, Part Two. Atlanta Shakespeare Company. Photo by Jeff Watkins.
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- : Mary Ruth Ralston (King Henry) in Henry VI, Part One. Photo by Jeff Watkins. Atlanta Shakespeare Company.
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- Trey York (Clifford) in Henry VI, Part Two. Atlanta Shakespeare Company. Photo by Jeff Watkins.
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- Kristin Storla (Joan La Pucelle) in Henry VI, Part One. Photo by Jeff Watkins. Atlanta Shakespeare Company.
Nebraska Shakespeare is taking Shakespeare’s source material and repackaging the three plays into the two-part A War of Roses: Foreign Flames (part 1) and A Fire Within (part 2). The production is a collaboration between Nebraska Shakespeare and the theater departments at Creighton University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. (See Nebraska Shakespeare’s website for specific performance dates in November.)
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- Photo by Dave Weaver
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- Photo by Dave Weaver
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- Photo by Dave Weaver
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- Photo by Dave Weaver
Much Ado About Nothing
Fighting is front-and-center in the Henry VI plays. But in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, the fighting has finished and the soldiers are returning home when this play begins. The romance and comedy that ensue take place in the aftermath of victory on the battlefield.
Much Ado About Nothing takes the stage at Ohio’s Cincinnati Shakespeare Company Nov. 18 and runs through Dec. 10. This production takes place in the post-Revolutionary War period – note Benedick’s uniform!
Miranda McGee as Beatrice and Jeremy Dubin as Benedick in Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s upcoming production of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, playing November 18- December 10, 2016. Directed by Sara Clark. By Mikki Schaffner Photography.
Measure for Measure
The Old Globe’s Globe for All presents free public performances of Measure for Measure at various non-traditional venues around San Diego this month. It’s a play that deals not so much with armies and battles as it does with justice and hypocrisy in government officials.
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- Ally Carey as Pompey and Christopher Salazar as Elbow performing for the audience from South Bay Community Services at Castle Park Middle School. The 2016 production of The Old Globe’s touring program Globe for All, Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, directed by Patricia McGregor, tours community venues Nov. 1 – 20. Photo courtesy of South Bay Community Services/The Old Globe.
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- (from left) Daniel Petzold as Angelo and Makha Mthembu as Isabella performing for the audience from the San Diego Public Library, Central Branch. The 2016 production of The Old Globe’s touring program Globe for All, Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, directed by Patricia McGregor, tours community venues Nov. 1 – 20. Photo by Jim Cox.
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- (from left) Flordelino Lagundino as Escalus, Daniel Petzold as Angelo, Christopher Salazar as Duke, Mahka Mthembu as Isabella, and Ally Carey as Provost performing for the audience from Fourth District Senior Resource Center at George Stevens Senior Center. The 2016 production of The Old Globe’s touring program Globe for All, Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, directed by Patricia McGregor, tours community venues Nov. 1 – 20. Photo by Jim Cox.
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- (from left) Nathan Whitmer as Claudio and Makha Mthembu as Isabella performing for the audience from the San Diego Public Library, Central Branch. The 2016 production of The Old Globe’s touring program Globe for All, Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, directed by Patricia McGregor, tours community venues Nov. 1 – 20. Photo by Jim Cox.
The Atlanta Shakespeare Company, Nebraska Shakespeare, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, and The Old Globe are theater partners of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
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