Saturday, May 3, 2014

The Illinois Shakespeare Festival's "Elizabeth Rex"

I am linking to this because it sounds like a clever and inventive reimagining of the repertoire theatre. I will link to the theater's website below, but this is an excerpt describing the play, Elizabeth Rex, and the two Shakespeare plays included in this season's repertoire:

This brilliant, award-winning play imagines Queen Elizabeth spending the eve of her lover's execution in the company of William Shakespeare and his players. Seeking distraction from her grief, she watches Much Ado About Nothing and afterward, banters with Ned, the actor who played Beatrice, about his playing a woman, and her playing a man. Meanwhile, Shakespeare is writing a new play called Antony and Cleopatra – about a Queen's tragic affair with her lover – which Elizabeth finds suspiciously familiar. Elizabeth Rex will be performed in repertory with both of these Shakespearean plays, making a trilogy of uniquely connected productions that cannot be missed.

As you can see, this looks like fun, and I hope I can find the time and the money to see it. As I promised, here is a link to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival's website: www.thefestival.org

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