A Midsummer Night's Dream Presented by the Utah Shakespearean Festival at the Randall L. Jones Theatre, Cedar City, Utah. June 23–September 3, 2005. Directed by Kathleen F. Conlin. Set by E. Eric Stone. Costumes by Bill Black. Lighting by Michael Philippi. Sound by Lindsay Jones. Music by Christine Frezza. Choreography by Kirsten Sham. With Michael Sharon (Theseus, Oberon), Anne Newhall (Hippolyta, Titania), Corliss Preston (Puck, Philostrate), Joe Cronin (Egeus), Michael Brusasco (Lysander), Ashley Smith (Demetrius), Christine Williams (Hermia), Tiffany Scott (Helena), Peter Sham (Quince), John Tillotson (Bottom), Aaron Galligan-Stierle (Flute), Martin Swoverland (Snug), Benjamin Reigel (Starveling), Kevin Kiler (Snout), and others.
Romeo and Juliet Presented by the Utah Shakespearean Festival at the Adams Shakespearean Theatre, Cedar City, Utah. June 23–September 3, 2005. Directed by Kate Buckley. Set by Bill Forrester. Costumes by David Kay Mickelsen. Lighting by Donna Ruzika. Sound by Joe Payne. Fight Choreography by Christopher Villa. With Ashley Smith (Mercutio), Justin Leath (Benvolio), Benjamin Reigel (Tybalt), Joe Cronin (Montague), Phil Hubbard (Capulet), Anne Newhall (Lady Montague), Melinda Pfundstein (Lady Capulet), Donald Sage Mackay (Escalus), Michael Brusasco (Paris), Paul Hurley (Romeo), Leslie Brott (Nurse), Tiffany Scott (Juliet), John Tillotson (Friar Lawrence), and others.
Love's Labor's Lost Presented by the Utah Shakespearean Festival at the Adams Shakespearean Theatre, Cedar City, Utah. June 23–September 3, 2005. Directed by Timothy Douglas. Set by Bill Forrester. Costumes by Bill Black. Lighting by Donna Ruzika. Sound by Joe Payne. Choreography by Kirsten Sham. With Lea CoCo (Ferdinand), Brian Normoyle (Longaville), Matthew-Lee Erlbach (Dumaine), David Ivers (Berowne), Phil Hubbard (Dull), Ryan Schabach (Costard), Ben Livingston (Don Adriano de Armado), Matt Burke (Moth), Shelly Gaza (Jaquenetta), Tim Casto (Boyet), Melinda Pfundstein (Princess of France), Maria Jill Herman (Maria), Allison Batty (Katherine), Corliss Preston (Rosaline), Jonathan Molitor (Sir Nathaniel), Leslie Brott (Holofernia), Alim Akbar (Marcade), and others.
Doctor Faustus Presented by the Utah Shakespearean Festival at the Adams Shakespearean Theatre, Cedar City, Utah. June 23–September 3, 2005. Directed by Howard Jensen. Set by Bill Forrester. Costumes by Linda Pisano. Lighting by Donna Ruzika. Sound by Joe Payne. Music by Christine Frezza. With Tim Casto (Chorus, Horse Dealer), Donald Sage Mackay (Faustus), Paul Hurley (Good Angel, Rafe, Alexander), Phil Hubbard (Evil Angel, The Pope, Charles V), Lea CoCo (Valdes, Robin, Duke of Vanholt, Knight), Ben Livingston (Mephistopheles), Andrew Lloyd Hunsaker (Dick, Sloth), John-Patrick Driscoll (Lucifer), Dan Amboyer (Beelzebub), Brian Normoyle (Pride, Cardinal), Ryan Schabach (Covetousness), Matthew-Lee Erlbach (Wrath), Eric VanTielen (Envy), Alim Akbar (Gluttony), Vanessa Ballam Benchley (Lechery, Helen), Allison Batty (Duchess of Vanholt), and others.
Rather remotely located in southern Utah, and thus "the only game in town," as Managing Director Scott Phillips said in an interview, the Utah Shakespearean Festival enjoys the luxury of visitors who stay a while and watch multiple shows (in between or before heading off to various national parks). Thus, much thought goes into how plays work together as part of a concentrated repertory experience. Though they were separately conceived and directed, the four Elizabethan plays in this year's ambitious six-play repertory certainly demonstrated how interestingly they could reflect upon and inform each other. In a nutshell, while the three Shakespearean offerings (Romeo and Juliet, Love's Labor's Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream) spun variations on youthful romance and pleasure, the one non-Shakespearean production (Marlowe's Doctor Faustus) presented a vision of the ultimate price of pleasure and thus provided a challenging counterpoint to the other plays. What made the repertory work wasn't only the combination of plays, however, but also circumstances unique to the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Indeed, this Festival offers a great opportunity to reflect on how Shakespeare festivals have evolved and what the social and material conditions under which literally millions of Americans see Shakespeare are.
But first to the three plays by Shakespeare, the first of which defined the overall tenor of the Shakespearean offerings and thus deserves extended treatment.
In her preliminary notes to the cast and crew of A Midsummer Night's Dream, director Kathleen Conlin...
A Midsummer Night's Dream, and: Romeo and Juliet, and: Love's Labor's Lost, and: Doctor Faustus (review)
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