Tag Archives: Heritage Amphitheatre

Sex in the city, hypocrite puritans, corrupt politicians … who’s ever heard of that? Measure For Measure in the park

Posted on June 16, 2022 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The opening image of Nancy McAlear’s production of Measure For Measure, the Freewill Shakespeare Festival’s companion piece to A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Hawrelak Park this summer, is a male pole dancer in a cage. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sex in the city, hypocrite puritans, corrupt politicians … who’s ever heard of that? Measure For Measure in the park

More about folly than love: A Midsummer Night’s Dream brings Freewill Shakespeare back to the park. A review

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Blow blow thou winter wind…”  oops, wrong play.  After two years of wandering the town in small-cast entertainments, the Freewill Shakespeare Festival is back on the big stage in Hawrelak Park. And on Tuesday’s blustery, unremittingly … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on More about folly than love: A Midsummer Night’s Dream brings Freewill Shakespeare back to the park. A review

Will goes fringing: Freewill Shakespeare Festival takes their resident playwright to the Fringe

Posted on August 9, 2021 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca For more than three decades, they’ve camped out in the river valley every summer with the world’s most famous playwright. And they’ve shown off their artist-in-residence in big full-bodied productions under the Heritage Amphitheatre canopy. For … Continue reading →

Posted in Fringe 2021, Previews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Will goes fringing: Freewill Shakespeare Festival takes their resident playwright to the Fringe

Happy 4-5-7 Will! With news from the Freewill Shakespeare Festival

Posted on April 23, 2021 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca But soft! We bring you birthday news. The playwright-in-residence at the Freewill Shakespeare Festival celebrates his big 4-5-7 today with with alternate plans for a second pandemic summer. Where there’s a Will there’s a way. “So, … Continue reading →

Posted in News/Views | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Happy 4-5-7 Will! With news from the Freewill Shakespeare Festival

Just in time for Will’s birthday, the Freewill Shakespeare Festival has a new artistic director: Dave Horak

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Many happy returns, Will. True, the 32nd edition of E-town’s outdoor festival in his honour has, alas, been cancelled this summer, postponed till 2021, and for entirely good reasons. But there’s welcome news to be had … Continue reading →

Posted in Features, News/Views | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Just in time for Will’s birthday, the Freewill Shakespeare Festival has a new artistic director: Dave Horak

Freewill Shakespeare Festival reschedules for 2021

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Alas, one woe doth tread upon another’s heel.… The COVID crisis has claimed another arts victim. Not unexpectedly, the 2020 edition of the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, the Bard’s annual summer foray into Hawrelak Park, has been … Continue reading →

Posted in News/Views | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Freewill Shakespeare Festival reschedules for 2021

A strange fairy tale, rescued magically by Time from tragedy: The Winter’s Tale in the park

Posted on July 8, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca There is a strange magic about a play where brute tragedy gives way to pastoral comedy, realism mixes it up with romance, and dramatic scenes abut presentational vaudeville. The Winter’s Tale has the optical weirdness of … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on A strange fairy tale, rescued magically by Time from tragedy: The Winter’s Tale in the park

An exciting new Hamlet for the park: a review

Posted on June 23, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Is not this something more than fantasy?” The guards on duty in Elsinore are talking about a dead king who’s been appearing nightly from behind his official royal portrait. They’re right on another count, too.  Something … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on An exciting new Hamlet for the park: a review

The world’s a zany, baffling place: The Comedy of Errors in the park

Posted on June 22, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca At a crucial mistaken-identity moment in The Comedy of Errors — a transaction-gone-askew involving a goldsmith, a chain, and a wayward husband arranging delivery on pricey bling for someone not his wife — a magpie perched … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The world’s a zany, baffling place: The Comedy of Errors in the park

Taking comedy and tragedy to the park: the Freewill Shakespeare Festival returns

Posted on June 21, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca There’s a vast expanse of theatrical distance between the two shows you’ll see alternating in the outdoor Shakespeare festival that opens tonight in the river valley. Tonight’s show is a comedy, and a farcical one at that; … Continue reading →

Posted in Previews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Taking comedy and tragedy to the park: the Freewill Shakespeare Festival returns