Capital Classics Announces Ticket On Sale For Expanded Summer Shakespeare Festival

Capital Classics Theatre Company has announced that tickets are now on sale for the 2024 Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival. For the first time in its 33-year history, Capital Classics will perform two productions in repertory: Shakespeare's immortal tragedy Hamlet and the raucuous comedy The Taming of the Shrew.

Casting for lead roles have also been announced for both productions with Capital Classics veterans returning to the outdoor stage on the campus of the University of Saint Joseph. Mauricio Miranda (Member of Actor's Equity Association; Benedick in Capital Classics' Much Ado About Nothing; Hartford Stage's A Christmas Carol) will portray the psychologically complex Hamlet. Eddie Cruz, Jr. (CC's As You Like It; Water by the Spoonful) appears as Petruchio opposite Kiera Sheehan (CC's Macbeth, As You Like It) as Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew.

Hamlet, which is set to be directed by Capital Classics Artistic Associate Geoffrey Sheehan, and The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Jan Mason, will each be performed 10 times over the course of four weeks. The alternating productions will begin performance on July 10 and run through Sunday, August 4, 2024, on the campus of the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford.

To accommodate the additional performances and growing demand, Capital Classics has expanded the schedule to include ten rotating performances of each production, running Wednesday through Sunday evenings for four weeks. The complete repertory performance schedule can be found at capitalclassics.org/upcoming.

Ticket Information

General Admission tickets for each show is $25. The discount for seniors (65 and up), full-time students (with ID), active military (with ID), groups of 10 or more is $17. For audience members wanting to see both Hamlet and The Taming of the Shrew, there is a multiple show discount of $20 for each show at the General Admission rate; $15 per person for each show for seniors, full-time students, active military, and groups of 10 or more. In addition, groups of 10 or more can also get special reserved lawn locations. Tickets for Hamlet and The Taming of the Shrew are on sale capitalclassics.org/upcoming.

About the Plays

In Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark has returned home after the death of the King. Mourning the loss of his father, the young prince must navigate the proclamations of a ghost; dangerous friends and relatives; and the disorienting discovery of his own place in the world.

While politics and psychological unraveling take center stage in Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew centers on another type of madness: love and marriage. Lucentio has his heart set on marrying the beautiful Bianca. However, there's one complication: her father won't allow her to wed until her older sister, the tempestuous Katherine, is settled in her own marriage. Can the mercenary Petruchio "tame" Katherine, collect her dowry, and allow Lucentio and Bianca's courtship to proceed...or will the titular "shrew" avoid the snares of her erstwhile suitor?

About Capital Classics Theatre Company

As Connecticut's oldest continuously running outdoor Shakespeare festival, Capital Classics has a reputation for making Shakespeare exciting, accessible, and affordable. The Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival is produced by Capital Classics Theatre Company in partnership with the University of Saint Joseph and is supported by the Connecticut Department of Economic Community Development/Office of the Arts; Hartford Distributors, Inc.; The John and Kelly Hartman Foundation; passionate Shakespeare fans; and local businesses and foundations.

Capital Classics, a non-Equity professional theatre company, was founded in 1991 to enrich the cultural environment of Greater Hartford through the theatre arts. We are committed to providing classical entertainment that is affordable, accessible, and engaging; serving the community with cultural and educational programming; and providing job opportunities and training to Connecticut's professional theatre artists. Learn more about Capital Classics Theatre Company and the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival at CapitalClassics.org.

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