Tag Archives: summer Shakespeare

Musical theatre tickles the Bard: larky Something Rotten! at the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, a review

Posted on July 2, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Who on earth is goin’ to sit there while an actor breaks into song?” ambitious playwright/impresario Nigel Bottom wonders incredulously (in song, natch) in Something Rotten!, the ingenious musical comedy hit now singing and dancing on … Continue reading →

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Once more unto the park! Much Ado About Nothing celebrates the homecoming of the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, a review

Posted on June 21, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca A sweet, long-awaited reunion is happening in Hawrelak Park. And you should be there to feel the vibrations. It’s been a hard, uphill road back, but the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, a ‘merry wanderer’ (as a sprite … Continue reading →

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Much ado about … something big! Freewill Shakespeare Festival is (finally) back in Hawrelak Park, with two shows

Posted on June 11, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca They’re back! Finally. In the park where they belong…. When Benedick and Beatrice, the witty sparring partners of Much Ado About Nothing, take their “merry war” to the Heritage Amphitheatre in newly re-opened Hawrelak Park Wednesday, … Continue reading →

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‘We couldn’t have done what we did anywhere else’: Northern Light co-founder Scott Swan looks back 50 years later

Posted on April 23, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “We couldn’t have done what we did anywhere else!” declares Scott Swan. He’s talking about Edmonton, and the persistently adventurous and surprising little theatre company he and three of his best friends, West Coasters all, co-founded … Continue reading →

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Troy O’Donnell has a history with the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, and this year’s As You Like It

Posted on June 26, 2025 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The play that opens Friday in a park overlooking the river valley is all about finding yourself on an excursion to the great outdoors, “the green world.” No wonder the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, which has gone … Continue reading →

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Our revels now have started: Nadien Chu stars in Freewill Shakespeare’s The Tempest, in an outdoor hockey rink near you

Posted on June 17, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The play that launches the 35th annual Freewill Shakespeare Festival this week — destined for four outdoor community league hockey rinks — is full of strange transformations. The Tempest, one of Shakespeare’s late-period “romances,” begins with the … Continue reading →

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On the road again: the Freewill Shakespeare Festival takes The Tempest to community league hockey rinks this summer

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,/ Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not….” The Tempest, Act III, scene 2 The Freewill Shakespeare Festival has taken its game resident playwright on … Continue reading →

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You’ve got the music in you: a joyful new Twelfth Night at Freewill Shakespeare Festival

Posted on August 12, 2023 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “O spirit of love! How quick and fresh art thou,” declares a love-struck Duke, glancing heavenward in the early moments of Twelfth Night, the first of the two alternating plays (along with Romeo and Juliet) in … Continue reading →

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The Freewill Shakespeare Festival’s new home for the summer: a vintage spiegeltent at Edmonton EXPO Centre

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca For their resident playwright, it’s the big 4-5-9. For the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, it’s season 34, and full of mid-play dramatic developments. Evicted from their home stage by the lunatic City plan of a three-YEAR closure … Continue reading →

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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 →

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