This weekend the first-ever West Virginia Shakes Festival hits the stage with the Alchemy Theatre Troupe's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream! Here's a preview: (Photo by Sholten Singer for the Herald-Dispatch.)
For a guy who’s been gone for over 400 years, Shakespeare knows how to have fun!
Fans of his legacy are celebrating his amazing body of work by starting a new event to put the spotlight on the Bard’s work - the West Virginia Shakespeare Festival (also known as “WV Shakes”).
For the first of what is planned as an annual event, organizers are presenting two Shakespeare shows, workshops, speakers, food and magic!
The festival is the brainchild of Mike Murdock, who said they tried a variety of offering for the first year to see what festival-goers might enjoy most.
“Our hope is to expand every year,” Murdock said. “We want WV Shakes to just keep getting bigger and bigger. West Virginia was one of the only states that didn't have a yearly Shakespeare festival, and so it was a no-brainer to get that going with my friends at Alchemy Theatre Troupe.”
The main event is a one-night-only presentation of Shakespeare’s comedy about magic, love and mistaken identities - “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
The show will be staged Saturday, June 30 at 7 p.m. at the Barboursville Park Amphitheatre (with a make-up date of July 1 in case of inclement weather). The play is directed by Dr. John Campbell, who has given the show a Steampunk edge. He said, “I have had the privilege of directing a very talented cast in a timelessly relevant work. I try to point them in a direction, then stay out of their way, and good things happen!”
Campbell is quick to praise the cast, made up of some of Huntington’s top stage performers. He said, “The talent of this cast - every night at rehearsal they find new depths, new laughs, new hijinks within their characters and Shakespeare’s text.”
But the show isn’t the only attraction on Saturday. At 4 p.m. at the Amphitheater the festival will have a workshop by Appalachian Artists Collective founder Leah Turley. At 5 p.m. there will be a stage combat demonstration by William Rouse. At 5:15 p.m. there will be staged readings, monologues and scenes by local performers, and then at 5:45 p.m., retired Marshall University professor and professional actor Gene Anthony will give a keynote speech about Shakespeare and how to listen to the language and poetry as an audience member. At 6 p.m. Norman Clerc will perform a magic show, and at 6:30 p.m. the house will open for seating for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Tickets to both the show and the workshops are $30 per person or $70 per family. Show-only tickets for “Midsummer” are $20 per person or $50 per family.
And Barboursville isn’t the only location for the festival. The town of St. Albans is hosting a new version of a Greek tragedy, as the Appalachian Artists Collective presents the world premiere of A.E. Gill's adaptation of “Oedipus” for WV Shakes at The Alban Arts Center. “Oedipus: An Appalachian Tragedy” will be performed June 29 and 30 at 8 p.m. and July 1 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for students and seniors, $15 for adults.
Murdock said, “We couldn't be happier with everyone who has come together to make this festival possible. It's certainly been a labor of love, but Alchemy has really picked up the ball with this and run with it, and having my friends at The Alban join us for this first year is another great feather in the cap of WV Shakes. We hope that festival-goers will have as much fun as we had putting this together, and we can't wait to see what bigger and better things next year brings!”
The West Virginia Shakespeare Festival is always looking for sponsors for the festival, as well as acts, artisans, theatre groups, speakers, musicians and vendors who might be interested in participating in future festivals. For more information, contact the festival at WVSHAKES@GMAIL.COM or visit this website: www.wvshakes.com.
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