Utah Shakespeare Festival is the Place to Be

The Utah Shakespeare Festival's 51st season opens this week, and I'm looking forward to seeing the plays. I have attended the Utah Shakespeare Festival every year since 1996. It has been a highlight of my summer for 16 years, and I've never been disappointed in spending the time or money.

This year on the Adams stage, which is an outdoor replica of Shakespeare's Globe theatre, three plays will be performed in repertory. Two of the plays, Titus Andronicus and The Merry Wives of Windsor, were written by William Shakespeare, and the last play, Mary Stuart, was written by a German playwright, Friedrich Schiller.

I have never seen Titus Andronicus, but many festival-goers still talk about the last time the play was produced at the festival. They say it was one of the best productions they've seen of any play there. It is Shakespeare's bloodiest and most violent play, written in a time when the Elizabethans loved to see gore on stage and off. One of the Elizabethan's form of entertainment was public executions. They were used to seeing real beheadings, hangings, drawings and quarterings, and wanted to see that kind of violence portrayed onstage as well. Shakespeare gave the theatre-goers what they wanted in spades with Titus Andronicus. It will be interesting to see how the production is staged this year at the festival.

Mary Stuart, which was not written by Shakespeare of course, is the story of the rivalry between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. We know how the story ends, but it will be interesting to see how the playwright portrays both women at a very turbulent time in English history. I am fascinated by the history of British Kings and Queens, and I'm excited to see the play and see how historically correct it is.

On the Randall stage, two classic plays, To Kill a Mockingbird and Moliere's comedy Scapin, as well as the popular musical Les Miserables will be staged in repertory. I'm sure Les Miserables will be very popular for the majority of festival-goers. I have seen it many times, and would have preferred that the festival had chosen another musical, especially since the movie musical will be coming out soon, but I have no doubt it will be very good.

The festival's 52nd season has also been announced. They are starting two new initiatives. One is to produce every play in the canon in the next 12 years. The second initiative is called the "History Cycle." This initiative is to perform the history plays in order, starting with King John in the 2013 summer season, and Richard II in the fall. I am excited to see both of these plays next year because I loved the festival's last production of King John, and I have never seen Richard II. There are only four Shakespeare plays I haven't seen live (five if you count Two Noble Kinsmen): Titus Andronicus, Timon of Athens, Henry VIII and Richard II. After next fall there will only be two Shakespeare play I haven't seen. Thanks to the Utah Shakespearean Festival's "Complete the Canon," I will have seen all of his plays by at least 2024. That seems like a long time from now, but really isn't.

The other Shakespeare plays included in the 2013 summer season are The Tempest and Love's Labour's Lost. Cole Porter's frothy musical, Anything Goes, Twelve Angry Men, and the acclaimed Broadway play, Peter and the Starcatcher (which will run into the fall season as well ), and round out the summer season. In the fall season you will be able to see the musical, The Marvelous Wonderettes, as well as the aforementioned Richard II and Peter and the Starcatcher.

Not all of William Shakespeare's plays are masterpieces, in fact I don't feel the need to see Troilus and Cressida ever again, but there is no doubt that he is the greatest writer in the English language. I would call myself a Shakespeare-freak as well as a theatre-geek, and I am grateful that there is a Tony Award-winning Shakespeare festival three and a half hours from my home that I can escape to every summer and fall. I can't think of a better vacation than watching six plays in three days in scenic Cedar City, Utah.