2012 Season
As You Like It
April 12 – 29 Asheville Masonic Temple
This Shakespeare comedy follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncle’s court, accompanied by her cousin Celia and Touchstone the court jester, to find safety and eventually love in the Forest of Arden. Plenty of Shakespearean poetry , frivolity, and cross-dressing follows, along with his famous “All the world’s a stage” soliloquy.
The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)
May 10 – 27 Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre
Can three guys really cover thirty-seven Shakespeare plays in less than two hours? Fresh and updated every year, this fast-firing comedy does just that as it parodies all of the Shakespeare plays (plus the sonnets!) with only three performers in two acts. This play is full of energy as the characters run across the stage and keep you guessing how they will pull off the next play. Clever use of some interesting costumes also adds to the fun.
Much Ado About Nothing
June 1 -23 Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre
We’re delighted to bring back this classic comedy about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero, last performed in 2007. Benedick and Beatrice are engaged in a “merry war”; they both talk a mile a minute and proclaim their scorn for love, marriage, and each other. In contrast, Claudio and Hero are sweet young people who are rendered practically speechless by their love for one another.
A Midsummer Nights Dream
June 29 – July 23 Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre
A constant favorite, Shakespeare’s beloved comedy portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, who are manipulated by the fairies that inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. A fun play for adults and children alike.
The Merry Wives of Windsor
July 27 – August 18 Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre
This uproarious social comedy features the hilarious courtships of fat knight, Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare’s only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life. We haven’t performed this one since 1995, so you’re in for a real treat!
Richard II
August 24 – September 15 Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre
Based on the life of King Richard II of England (ruled 1377 – 1399), this Shakespeare history is the first play of a tetralogy, followed by three plays concerning Richard’s successors: Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V, all of which are familiar to our audiences from past performances. Richard II is the only part of this tetralogy we’ve never staged and will be presented for the very first time at the Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre.
