TWELFTH NIGHT, RICHARD III & More Announced for 2022 Kentucky Shakespeare Festival
The Festival will also present The Merry Wives of Windsor, and more!
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Apr. 26, 2022
Kentucky Shakespeare, the Official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth, has announced the 62nd annual free Kentucky Shakespeare Festival May 25-August 7, 2022, at the C. Douglas Ramey Amphitheater in Old Louisville's Central Park.
"We're delighted to return for another magical season of our free Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park, and it will mark the longest run in the history of our company! The eleven-week season features 60 performances, six productions, all presented absolutely free to audience members. While we returned to Central Park in 2021 after a virtual 2020 summer season, we still look at this summer as a homecoming. It's a time to continue to come together to connect, heal, and rebuild, while we experience the joy of this shared community arts experience together, under the stars - all summer long!" said Matt Wallace, Producing Artistic Director. "We'll kick off the main stage season with a lively production of Twelfth Night set in 1920's New Orleans featuring a live jazz band onstage, followed by Richard III, the thrilling finale to our history cycle featuring Shakespeare's iconic villain, and the hilarious Elizabethan farce The Merry Wives of Windsor. The season will again feature two weeks of rotating repertory in July in which all three productions will rotate nightly."
In addition to the three main stage productions, Kentucky Shakespeare will present their Globe Players professional training program for high school students in Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Kyle Ware, plus a new production of Shakespeare in Dance from the Louisville Ballet choreographed by Roger Creel (this year inspired by As You Like It), and the Late Night Shakes Shakespearean improv comedy show from the Louisville Improvisors. The Kids' Globe tent will open an hour before every performance during the summer with free interactive arts-based activities tied to the production, and various community pre-show groups will perform at 7:15PM nightly throughout the summer.
All performances are presented free of charge at Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park, the longest-running non-ticketed Shakespeare festival in the United States.
Kentucky Shakespeare's 62nd season is dedicated to the memory of Thomas T. Noland, Jr. and Max G. Baumgardner whom we lost this year. Both served as Kentucky Shakespeare Board Chairmen and were longtime friends and supporters of the company.
A variety of 36 food trucks from the Louisville Food Truck Association will rotate nightly, plus Will's Tavern (a Brown-Forman Bar) and Will's Gift Shop.
Nightly Schedule:
6:00pm Food Trucks Open
7:00pm Will's Tavern, Will's Gift Shop, and Kids' Globe open
7:15pm Community Pre-Show Performance
8:00pm Production Begins
Please visit kyshakespeare.com for more information and schedules.
The 2022 Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park:
Twelfth Night
Directed by Matt Wallace
May 25-June 12; July 13, 16, 19, 22 (no performances on Mondays or Tuesdays in June)
The season kicks off with Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy of mistaken identity, music, and the madness of love, where nobody is quite what they seem and anything is possible!
Richard III
Directed by Amy Attaway
June 16-26; July 12, 15, 20, 23 (no performances on Mondays or Tuesdays in June)
Shakespeare's charismatic, power-hungry villain embarks on an unrelenting campaign for the crown, chronicling the cataclysmic end of England's greatest power struggle, the Wars of the Roses, in this thrilling finale to the history cycle.
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Directed by Matt Wallace
June 30-July 10; July 14, 17, 21,24
Double-meanings, disguises, and dirty laundry as lovable rogue Sir John Falstaff sets about improving his financial situation by wooing two wealthy married women. The tables are turned, feminine wisdom triumphs, and laughter reigns supreme in this hilarious Elizabethan farce.
***Note to reviewers: the start dates listed above for the main stage season are the PREVIEW PERFORMANCES. We ask that you please plan to review the OPENING performances on Friday, May 27 (Twelfth Night), Friday, June 17 (Richard III), and Friday July 1 (Merry Wives).***
Kentucky Shakespeare's Globe Players
Much Ado About Nothing
Directed by Kyle Ware
July 27-31
Kentucky Shakespeare's Globe Players present the beloved comedy directed by Director of Education Kyle Ware. The cast is comprised of students from multiple area high schools and the production is the culmination of a 5-week training program.
Louisville Improvisors
Late Night Shakes
Improvised Shakespeare
10:30PM on June 11, June 25, July 9, and July 23
The Louisville Improvisors return for a seventh year with Late Night Shakes on select Saturdays bringing late night improvised Shakespeare plays created from audience suggestions.
Louisville Ballet
Shakespeare in Dance: As You Like It
August 3-7
Rounding out the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival season, Louisville Ballet returns to the Festival stage for a sixth season to present Shakespeare in Dance, a Shakespeare-inspired dance premiere based on As You Like It.
ASL interpretation will be provided for the following performances: Thursday, June 2 for Twelfth Night, Thursday, June 23 for Richard III, and Thursday, July 7 for The Merry Wives of Windsor. (For all ASL scheduled performances, the makeup rain date will be the following evening.)
Kentucky Shakespeare's TARC to the Park free bus voucher distribution program returns for a second time this year, distributing four-hour vouchers through community organizations in west and south Louisville. If someone is in need of transportation to the Festival or would like more information on TARC to the Park, please email info@kyshakespeare.com.
DESIGNERS
Karl Anderson (Scenic Designer)
Casey Clark (Lighting Designer)
Laura Ellis (Sound Designer)
Donna Lawrence-Downs (Costume Designer)
Alex Betts (Choreographer - Twelfth Night)
Allison Cross (Music Director/Arranger/Composer - Twelfth Night)
Gregory Maupin (Dramaturg/Editor/Composer - Twelfth Night)
Eric Frantz (Fight Choreographer - Richard III)
Alfie Jones (Choreographer - Richard III, The Merry Wives of Windsor)
Russell Cooper (Music Director - The Merry Wives of Windsor)
2022 ACTING COMPANY
Leilani Bracey
Zachary Burrell
Ashley Nicole Cabrera
Brian Hinds
Jon Huffman
Justin M. Jackson
Georgette Kleier
Tom Luce
Arianna Martin
Abigail Bailey Maupin
Gregory Maupin
Braden McCampbell
Keith McGill
Mollie Murk
Brittany "BeeBee" Patillo
Jennifer Pennington
Austin Ramirez
Tony Reimonenq III
Neill Robertson
Liliana Ucán Shadle
Tyler Tate
Shaquille Towns
Kyle Ware
Nick Wills
Kyah Young
The TWELFTH NIGHT Band
Allison Cross, Band Leader/Trombone
Laura Ellis, Singer/Musician
May O'Nays, Tuba
Joshua Polion, Trumpet
Elijah Smith, Drums and Percussion
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