Friday, July 6, 2018

Shakespeare in the Park!

Sunday July 8th, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Briargreen Park!

Summer means Shakespeare in the Park! Bear & Co. brings the ridiculously over-the-top Cymbeline to Briargreen Park on July 8. Follow a pair of lovers as they react to the mad world around them in a 90-minute version of the play Shakespeare packed with every plot device he could think of: star-crossed lovers, a wicked stepmother, a befuddled king, a loyal servant, separated siblings, wild men, exiled kin, cross-dressing, kidnapping, murder plots, and a Roman invasion.

Six actors tackle Cymbeline’s 40-odd characters, full-on or in composite. Megan Carty (recently at the NAC in Up to Low) plays the heart-breaking and redoubtable heroine Imogen, while Ian Campbell (recently artistic director of Shakespeare by the Sea in St. John’s) plays the hero, Posthumous Leonatus. William Beddoe’s roles include King Cymbeline; Rebecca Benson’s include his wicked second wife. Phillip Merriman (last summer’s Romeo) doubles as her unlovely son Cloten and the fascinating Italian lover Jachimo. Ellen Manchee is both the gruff but kindly loyal servant, and the invading Roman army!

A Canterbury H.S. grad, director Sharon King-Campbell now lives and works in Newfoundland. She returns to Ottawa twice this season, first to direct Cymbeline and then to assistant direct (with NAC English Theatre artistic director Jillian Keiley) when Between Breaths hits the stage at the NAC.

All shows start at 7; our suggested donation into the hat is $20 per person. Please see the full tour schedule, below.  (But double-check the website on show day, to be sure there have been no last-minute changes.)

We look forward to seeing you in the park! (Also, later on, indoors at the Gladstone: This Flight Tonight: Songs of Joni Mitchell Oct 17-27; King Lear March 20-30.)

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