Web hopping
Published 9:00 pm Saturday, July 29, 2006
“Go travel for a while,” Shakespeare wrote in “Pericles, Prince of Tyre.” So, take his advice; go travel somewhere and see some Shakespeare.
You can enjoy the Bard’s works seemingly anywhere these days, thanks to Shakespeare festivals in cities big and small in almost every state. And most of them have Web sites.
Going to the Grand Ole Opry? Yes, even in the land of country music, “Macbeth” is on the calendar for Aug. 10-Sept. 10 at the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, and it’s being staged with Chinese choreography. This troupe is in its 19th season.
Or maybe you’re heading to New York City for a little summer shopping, sightseeing and the museums. The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park uses Central Park for its outdoor venue in the heart of Manhattan. “Macbeth” is over for this season, but you can take in the company’s “Mother Courage and Her Children” by Bertolt Brecht, Aug. 8 through Sept. 3, and keep it in mind for next summer’s travels.
www.kennedy-center.org/programs/festivals/06-07/shakespeare
Looking for a reason to visit the nation’s capital? Along with the recently reopened National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum, you can take in Shakespeare In Washington although you’ll have to wait until after the first of the year. In this case, it really is a festival, with a wide variety of organizations putting on events in theater, music, dance and film. Participants include the Royal Shakespeare Company, which usually performs in London and Shakespeare’s own Stratford-upon-Avon.
Wrong coast? South of the San Francisco Bay area, you could visit Shakespeare Santa Cruz where some plays are staged at the Festival Glen, set among redwood trees. “King Lear” is on the menu through August into early September. Across the Bay in Berkeley and Orinda, California Shakespeare Theater is presenting “The Merchant of Venice” in August, followed by “As You Like It” from Sept. 13 to Oct. 15. In the City by the Bay itself and in towns in the surrounding area, check the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival to see if your travel plans match their schedules.
If you’re taking the kids to the Grand Canyon on summer vacation, follow the scenic route from Phoenix through the Mile-High City of Prescott, where you could stop to see the Arizona Shakespeare Festival. It’s advertising “Julius Caesar” and “Taming of the Shrew” through the middle of August.
Want to stay in the Northwest? The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland is one of the best-known in the country, with three venues presenting “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” “King John” and “A Winter’s Tale.” The first two plays run through Oct. 7 and the others through Oct. 29. The Idaho Shakespeare Festival in Boise is celebrating its 30th anniversary with plays including “Love’s Labor’s Lost” and “Romeo and Juliet.” And the Seattle Shakespeare Company presents “The Winter’s Tale” from Oct. 26 through Nov. 19.
Or, you could always go to Stratford – no, not that one – for the Stratford Festival of Canada and its extensive calendar, including “Much Ado About Nothing,” through Oct. 22.
www.curtainrising.com/shakes/shakefest.html
There are plenty more if you’re looking for one to fit your travel plans. The Shakespeare Theatre Association of America and Curtain Rising have links to many of them.
Roger Petterson, Associated Press
