Boundless possibilities await the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival this summer. The company will be performing both of theirproductions outdoors at the Meadow at Evergreen.
“There?s something about filling up the outdoors with this language, this text that was written 400 years ago. It doesn?t get any larger than the outdoors, or any clearer or cleaner,” said Raine Bode, Production Manager at Baltimore Shakespeare Festival. “It very much resonates with the actors as well as the audience. It transcends the time in between.”
The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival will be presenting two of Shakespeare?s beloved comedies, “Twelfth Night,” and “Taming of the Shrew.” While both plots involve love twists and comedy, Bode says that the plays are very different. “Twelfth Night is more elegant, it?s hilarious, but everyone is in more of an elegant state, while Taming of the Shrew is really down and dirty, scrappy, slapstick comedy.”
“Twelfth Night” follows the shipwrecked Viola, disguised as a man, as she falls into the center of a comic love triangle. Meanwhile, Sir Toby Belch and his comrades plot the downfall of servant Malvolio.
In “The Taming of the Shrew,” Lucentio wishes to marry the demure Bianca, but standing in his way is her headstrong sister, Kate, and Kate?s suitor, Petruchio.
Joe Brady, the Director of “Taming,” said that working with Shakespeare is completely different than working with a contemporary playwright. “It?s more complicated, dealing with cast size, and the complexity of the language, working with the dramaturg, and doing research and all that.”
Contrary to most stage performances of “Taming,” Brady decided to include the induction scene which occurs in the beginning of the play. “With the induction, it becomes a play within a play. Rather than being a straightforward, realistic play about Kate and Petruchio, everything becomes much more about role playing, and the roles we take on and discard as people.”
This is the second time that the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival has chosen to produce two shows in one summer, and the first time the shows will be performed back to back.
“Our audiences have been growing exponentially every year, so we thought we?d take advantage of that,” Bode said. “It?s been double the work for a lot of the staff, but it?s paying off. We?re very happy.”
IF YOU GO
The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival presents “Twelfth Night” and “Taming of the Shrew”
Where: Evergreen Museum and Library, 4545 N. Charles St., Baltimore
Twelfth Night: 8 p.m. July 5, 10, 11, 12; 7 p.m. July 6 and 13
Taming of the Shrew: 8 p.m. July 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, and 31, Aug. 1 and 2; 7 p.m. July 20, 27, and Aug. 3
Tickets: $15 to $25
