Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park Opens Season on 6/1

Executive/Artistic Director Kathryn McGill has announced the 2017 Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park season. The upcoming season marks the company's 33rd and includes something for everyone, with raucous comedy, high wit , pathos and revenge.

Performances begin on June 1, 2017 with William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and conclude on September 30 with Hamlet. Other plays include Or, by Liz Duffy Adams and Private Lives by Noel Coward. Full season listing with dates is included below. Tickets are on sale now, and options for a flexpass are available.
"The 2017 season embraces all that Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park stands for: entertaining, and powerful classic and language based plays, told by masterful artists in a highly theatrical way. Each play takes you on an adventurous journey with a unique point of view, style, and tone," said Executive/Artistic Director Kathryn McGill.
"The Taming of the Shrew opens the season and director Caprice Woosley will put her unique spin on this story. Caprice is very good at building an ensemble with cast members and especially good at story telling." said McGill.

Director Woosley said, "Taming of the Shrew is like an episode of Saturday Night Live, lampooning many topical subjects that are still relevant today like women's rights, male dominated world views, class struggles, and even a bit of The Bachelor, with three men vying for one Bachelorette. So Kate or Bianca...who will get the final rose?"

The second show of the season is an Oklahoma premiere of the play Or, by Liz Duffy Adams, named one of the best plays of 2010. " Adams has a particular talent and relish for playing with language in her plays, said McGill. "The way she mixes contemporary language with Restoration period touches in Or, is a delight."

Or, takes place (mostly) during one night in the life of Aphra Behn, poet, spy, and soon to be first professional female playwright. Against a background of a long drawn-out war and a counter-culture of free love, cross-dressing, and pastoral lyricism, the 1660s look a lot like the 1960s in this neo-Restoration comedy from the playwright the San Francisco Bay Guardian called "an artist of playful and highly literate imagination, radical instincts, and sardonic but generous humor."

Private Lives, by Noel Coward is considered one of the best comedies ever written and is the third show of the season. Glamorous, rich and reckless, Elyot and Amanda have been divorced from each other for five years. Now both are honeymooning with their new spouses in the South of France. When by chance they meet again across adjoining hotel balconies, their romantic feelings for each other are immediately rekindled. Without a care for scandal, new partners or memories of what drove them apart in the first place, they hurl themselves headlong into love and lust.

"Private Lives is a dazzling witty masterpiece" said McGill. "We have long wanted to produce a Noel Coward play so we are thrilled to share this one with our audience."

The final play is Hamlet considered by many as Shakespeare's greatest play. After receiving news of his father's death, a young man comes home to a much changed world. Doubt, uncertainty, and grief dog him at every turn. Struggling to make sense of the new order, Hamlet faces a crossroad. He can consent, or rage against the injustice around him. Rich with soaring language, Shakespeare's masterpiece opens up with fresh insights with each new viewing. "I believe there is something of Hamlet in all of us", said McGill." "This is a story we return to again and again for that very reason".

THE 2017 OKLAHOMA SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK SEASON:

The Taming of the Shrew

By William Shakespeare

June 1-24

Directed by Caprice Woosley

Myriad Gardens

In Shakespeare's most outrageous comedy, sweet tempered daddy's girl, Bianca, can have her pick of suitors- but not until her sister, the acid-tongued Kate can be married off. Rising to the challenge is new man in town, Petruchio, but can he match Kate jab for jab? A hilarious, delirious tangle of masquerades and misdirection plays out as Bianca finds herself with too many suitors and Kate and Petruchio seem hell-bent on outwitting each other and in the end this surprising love story dares to ask what roles we play...and underneath who we really are.

Or,

By Liz Duffy Adams

July 13-23

Directed by Laura Standley

Paseo

"All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn which is, most scandalously but rather appropriately, in Westminster Abbey, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds."- Virginia Woolf

Aphra Behn, known to history as the first credited female playwright, has one opportunity to have her play produced and fulfill her desperate desire to leave the spy trade behind her. The catch? She must finish and deliver her play by morning all while fighting off distracting romantic temptations, attempting to win a pardon, and trying to save the life of royalty. Her hectic antics unfold into a night of hilarity, passion and self discovery that transcends time.

Private Lives

By Noel Coward

August 17-27

Directed by Emily Heugatter

Paseo

Champagne and laughter will explode with Noel Coward's timeless comedy

Private Lives. Glamorous, rich and reckless, Elyot and Amanda have been divorced from each other for five years. Now both are honeymooning with their new spouses in the South of France. When by chance they meet again across adjoining hotel balconies, their romantic feelings for each other are immediately rekindled. Without a care for scandal, new partners or memories of what drove them apart in the first place, they hurl themselves headlong into love and lust. Private Lives is a dazzling witty masterpiece and considered to be one of the greatest comedies ever written.

Hamlet

By William Shakespeare

September 14-30

Directed by D. Lance Marsh

Myriad Gardens

An unrequited ghost, an indecisive prince, a kingdom in chaos: something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Shakespeare's dark tale of power, murder and vengeance is regarded by many as the most influential work ever written for the stage. This richly complex tragedy unfolds as the young prince of Denmark swears to avenge the untimely death of his beloved father and pulls his country into a maelstrom of madness and murder.

Tickets are available online at www.oklahomashakespeare.com

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