Illinois Shakespeare Festival To Mark Hamlet's 400th
Wed. May 26, 2004 12:00 AM
Bloomington, IL -
The Illinois Shakespeare Festival celebrates 400 years of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" with a new production this summer inspired by a "full-bodied romanticism" and directed by Michael Halberstam.
The 2004 summer season at Ewing Manor on the Illinois State University campus, in Bloomington-Normal, also highlights Edmond Rostand's romantic and idealistic "Cyrano de Bergerac" and Shakespeare's light-hearted tale of "Two Gentlemen of Verona."
Carl MacLean, the festival's artistic director, says the 2003 season "is devoted to passionate and frustrated idealists … their passion may be wonderful, or dangerous; their idealism misguided or reckless."
Chief among such characters is Hamlet, whose idealism propels him toward a fatal destiny.
This new Shakespeare production, MacLean says, "marks a new partnership with our colleagues in the English department and their summer colloquium on Shakespearean scholarship."
"Cyrano," directed by Patrick O'Gara, is Rostand's swashbuckling tale of unrequited love. This is the first production of the play by the Illinois Shakespeare Festival.
Philip E. Johnson has the title role as the bravest swordsman and wittiest poet in Paris whose larger-than-life nose keeps him from speaking his love to the beautiful Roxanne.
So Cyrano lives vicariously, penning the words that his tongue-tied friend Christian uses to woo Roxanne. One of the most poignant love stories on the stage, it also celebrates Cyrano's humor and wit as keen as his rapier.
In "Two Gentlemen of Verona," the festival's opening show, Shakespeare explores the bonds of friendship, loyalty and growing up in Verona and Milan.
Directed by Jessica Kubzansky, this comedy about love straining the bonds of loyalty and friendship between the two gentlemen, Valentine and Proteus, is full of disguises, hilarious servants and bumbling outlaws.
For many festivalgoers, a special part of the evening is picnicking beforehand on the lawn at Ewing Manor and enjoying the "Green Show" that precedes the play, a choice of a comic mini-play, a fight demonstration or strolling madrigal singers.
Previews of "Cyrano" and "Two Gentlemen of Verona" are June 23 and June 24, respectively, with opening nights for "Two Gentlemen" on June 25 and "Cyrano" on June 26.
The "Hamlet" preview is July 15, and the show opens July 16. The three plays alternate throughout the season, which runs until Aug. 15.
Ticket prices range from $15 for a single silver ticket for a preview performance to $39 for a platinum plus ticket for a Thursday through Saturday night performance. Season ticket packages also are available. A $1 service charge is added to the price of each ticket.
Tickets may be ordered online at www.thefestival.org or by mail at Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Ticket Office, Campus Box 5700, Normal, IL 61790-5700. The festival box office will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday beginning May 19. The phone number is 309-438-8110.
The 2004 summer season at Ewing Manor on the Illinois State University campus, in Bloomington-Normal, also highlights Edmond Rostand's romantic and idealistic "Cyrano de Bergerac" and Shakespeare's light-hearted tale of "Two Gentlemen of Verona."
Carl MacLean, the festival's artistic director, says the 2003 season "is devoted to passionate and frustrated idealists … their passion may be wonderful, or dangerous; their idealism misguided or reckless."
Chief among such characters is Hamlet, whose idealism propels him toward a fatal destiny.
This new Shakespeare production, MacLean says, "marks a new partnership with our colleagues in the English department and their summer colloquium on Shakespearean scholarship."
"Cyrano," directed by Patrick O'Gara, is Rostand's swashbuckling tale of unrequited love. This is the first production of the play by the Illinois Shakespeare Festival.
Philip E. Johnson has the title role as the bravest swordsman and wittiest poet in Paris whose larger-than-life nose keeps him from speaking his love to the beautiful Roxanne.
So Cyrano lives vicariously, penning the words that his tongue-tied friend Christian uses to woo Roxanne. One of the most poignant love stories on the stage, it also celebrates Cyrano's humor and wit as keen as his rapier.
In "Two Gentlemen of Verona," the festival's opening show, Shakespeare explores the bonds of friendship, loyalty and growing up in Verona and Milan.
Directed by Jessica Kubzansky, this comedy about love straining the bonds of loyalty and friendship between the two gentlemen, Valentine and Proteus, is full of disguises, hilarious servants and bumbling outlaws.
For many festivalgoers, a special part of the evening is picnicking beforehand on the lawn at Ewing Manor and enjoying the "Green Show" that precedes the play, a choice of a comic mini-play, a fight demonstration or strolling madrigal singers.
Previews of "Cyrano" and "Two Gentlemen of Verona" are June 23 and June 24, respectively, with opening nights for "Two Gentlemen" on June 25 and "Cyrano" on June 26.
The "Hamlet" preview is July 15, and the show opens July 16. The three plays alternate throughout the season, which runs until Aug. 15.
Ticket prices range from $15 for a single silver ticket for a preview performance to $39 for a platinum plus ticket for a Thursday through Saturday night performance. Season ticket packages also are available. A $1 service charge is added to the price of each ticket.
Tickets may be ordered online at www.thefestival.org or by mail at Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Ticket Office, Campus Box 5700, Normal, IL 61790-5700. The festival box office will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday beginning May 19. The phone number is 309-438-8110.