Illinois Shakespeare Festival

The Illinois Shakespeare Festival (ISF) is located in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. It began in 1978 and it celebrated its 30th season in the summer of 2007. The Festival generally does 3 Bard pieces in revolving rep, though occasionally the third piece is either a Shakespeare contemporary or time period contemporary.

The Festival is produced by the School of Theatre and Dance and the College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University. Performances take place at the Theatre at Ewing, on a re-creation Globe Stage complete with open air amphitheater. The Festival markets itself as "theatre under the stars!" Prior to each nightly performance (except Mondays), the Festival presents a Green Show in the courtyard of Ewing Manor. This little comedy or demonstration is suitable for all audiences and free. It often offers an abbreviated version of the play to come. The Manor grounds serve as picnicking spots for the audience. The Festival runs from the later part of June through the middle of August. In 2008, The Festival began doing a fourth show that is aimed towards younger audiences which is performed on Wednesday and Saturday mornings at 10am.

Productions

2001

• Love's Labour's Lost
• Coriolanus
• Othello

2002

• Merchant of Venice
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Romeo and Juliet

2003

• As You Like It
• King Lear
• Knight of the Burning Pestle

2004

• Two Gentlemen of Verona
• Cyrano de Bergerac
• Hamlet

2005

• Macbeth
• Twelfth Night
• Henry VIII

2006

• Julius Caesar
• Pericles
• The Comedy of Errors

2007

• Much Ado About Nothing
• Henry V
• Love's Labour's Lost

2008

• The Taming of the Shrew
• Titus Andronicus
• The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged
• A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare Alive!

2009

• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Richard III
• Scapin
• The Tempest - Shakespeare Alive!

2010

• The Tempest
• The Three Musketeers
• The Merry Wives of Windsor
• As You Like It - Shakespeare Alive!

2011

• The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
• The Winter's Tale
• Romeo and Juliet
• Twelfth Night - TYA

2012

• As You Like It - by William Shakespeare
• Othello - by William Shakespeare
• The Rivals - by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
• The Comedy of Errors - TYA

2013

• The Comedy of Errors - by William Shakespeare
• Macbeth
• Failure: A Love Story
• The Magical Mind of Billy Shakespeare - TYA

2014

• Much Ado About Nothing - by William Shakespeare
• Antony and Cleopatra - by William Shakespeare
• Elizabeth Rex - by Timothy Findley

2015

• Love's Labour's Lost - by William Shakespeare
• Q Gents - an adaptation of The Two Gentlemen of Verona by The Q Brothers
• Richard II (play) - by William Shakespeare
• Love's Labor's Won - by Scott Kaiser

Such publications as the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times have given the Festival positive reviews.

External links

• Home Page