The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival will present its first wintertime festival with the Shakespeare by the Palms V production of As You Like It from Thursday, Jan. 30 to Sunday, Feb. 2 at the Commons Park Amphitheater in Royal Palm Beach.
Presented by the Village of Royal Palm Beach and sponsored by Gary and Katherine Parr, the performances take place from 8 to 10 p.m. each night. Admission is free with a suggested donation of $5 per person.
“We are incredibly excited to have this multi-talented group of artists join us for our first wintertime Shakespeare Festival,” Managing Producer Elizabeth Dashiell said. “Artistic Director Trent Stephens has put together a brilliant script that plays to the strength of our talented performers, and we cannot wait to share it with our year-round residents and seasonal visitors.”
The cast list includes last summer’s Dr. Kevin Crawford Fellowship recipient Lee Ritter (King Lear) in the role of Rosalind; festival newcomer Tristen Hooks (Big Fish) as Orlando; company actor Sara Grant (Macbeth, King Lear) as Celia; Madi Fernandez (Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) returning to the festival in the role of Phoebe; guest artist Ben Lusk as Oliver; and company veteran performer Daryl Willis as Adam. All performers will play multiple roles, and live music will be performed by guest artist Ben Lusk (Forlorn Strangers, The Rally Club).
As You Like It follows the resourceful Rosalind and her friends as she journeys from the Royal Court to the Forest of Arden. Disguised as a shepherd, Rosalind encounters her love, Orlando, and decides to befriend him as a shepherd boy and cure Orlando of his “lovesickness” for Rosalind. Witty words and romance play out while the disputes between a pair of brothers comes to a happy ending.
Guests attending the production are invited to bring a beach chair or blanket, picnic basket and enjoy on-site concessions each evening.
The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival’s 35th anniversary season continues with the Palm Beach County Parks & Recreation Department partnered Shakespeare by the Sea production of The Winter’s Tale set for July 10-20, Thursdays through Sundays at the Seabreeze Amphitheater in Jupiter’s Carlin Park.
The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival’s Shakespeare by the Palms V and Shakespeare by the Sea XXXV productions are made possible thanks to generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Village of Royal Palm Beach, the Palm Beach County Cultural Council, and Gary & Katherine Parr. Additional funding is provided by Frank Cona & Lisa Calberg and an anonymous donor.
The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival is nonprofit professional theater company dedicated to enhancing the accessibility and appreciation for Shakespearean, classic and contemporary theater. For more information about the festival, www.pbshakespeare.org.
