Capital Classics Shakespeare Festival: 20th Anniversary Season
A Midsummer Night’s Dream playing three weekends, July 8 - 25, 2010, on the grounds of
Saint Joseph College, West Hartford (rain location: the adjacent Hoffman Auditorium)
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets $12 adults, $7 children: www.tickets.sjc.edu; or 860.231.5555
Central Connecticut’s longest running Shakespeare Fe
stival celebrates its 20th anniversary season with a festive and family-oriented production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Capital Classics Theatre Company, in partnership with the Carol Autorino Center at Saint Joseph College, presents Shakespeare’s extravagant comedy in high style. The cast of 24 professional and student actors (all Connecticut residents) make Shakespeare understandable and accessible in a spirited production that merges action, romance, music and dance.
Production director Geoffrey Sheehan, a company co-founder and theater professor at Housatonic Community College, said, “The combination of the Shakespeare’s adventurous story, together with the ensemble’s high level of talent, will engage and entertain audiences of all ages. I urge families to attend the performance and introduce their children to Shakespeare in a form that will capture their interest and inspire their imagination.”
Now entering its 20th season, Capital Classics began its outdoor Shakespeare Festival in 1991 in Hartford’s Bushnell Park. Throughout its tenure, the Festival has merged art with entertainment to produce classical theater that is artistically and economically affordable. The result is Shakespeare that is understandable and engaging. Audience members typically picnic while enjoying “Shakespeare under the stars.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream features a cast of 24 performers including Capital Classics core company members Michael Nowicki (Bottom), Laura Sheehan (Quince), Gregoire Mouning (Starveling), David Regan (Snout), and James Curley (Egeus). The young lovers will be played by Hartt School theater students Kendra Underwood (Hermia), Sarah Moore (Helena), Robert Sheire (Demetrius) and Tim Zayas (Lysander). The cast includes David Loeb (Puck), Jovan Davis (Oberon), Blythe Coons (Titania), Erin Williams (Hippolyta), John Wentworth (Theseus), Erik Bloomquist (Snug) and Jeremy Garfinkel (Flute). Rounding out the cast is an ensemble of spirits played by Gabrielle Van Horn, Natalie Battistone, Ilana Moskowitz, Julia Hamilton, Nick DeMarco, Nick Pollifrone, Tom Rash, and Michael Labbadia. The production is choreographed by Sonia Plumb and pre-show entertainment is provided by The Elizabethan Consort.
Tickets ($12 adults, $7 students) are available at the door or at: 860.231.5555 or www.tickets.sjc.edu . The Festival is an indoor/outdoor venue and will not be cancelled due to rain. To learn more about Capital Classics Theatre Company and the 2010 Festival, visit www.capitalclassics.org.
Sponsors of The 2010 Capital Classics Shakespeare Festival include: The Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation; The Maximilian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation; The John and Kelly Hartman Foundation; The Daphne Seybolt Culpeper Memorial Foundation; J. Walton Bissell Foundation; The Alexander A. Goldfarb Memorial Trust; The Mabel Hoffman Charitable Trust; and the George A. and Grace L. Long Foundation.
