SiP 2024 kicks off
It all begins with an idea.
Rehearsals for the 16th annual Shakespeare in Paradise theatre festival are now fully underway! As usual, rehearsals began eight weeks out from opening night, with Hamlet 50/50 and Short Tales getting going on July 29. Both productions remain hard at work in the Winston V. Saunders dressing room and the Philip A. Burrows Black Box.
Julie Ritchie-Bingham gathers the cast of La Tormenta by Inderia Reeba Green as part of Short Tales 2024. Photo credit: Nicolette Bethel
Patrice Francis (Queen Gertrude) and Hamlet (T-Day) rehearsing the “closet scene” in Hamlet 50/50. Photo credit: Nicolette Bethel
As August progresses, life will get even busier at the Dundas: the casts for Ralphie’s Barbershop and A Merry Regiment of Women will move in as they remount those productions, originally performed as part of the 2024 Ringplay Season. Rounding out our offerings in the third week of our festival will be December by Patrick Brown, a Jamaican import directed by Henry Muttoo of Cayman and Guyana.
Our Hamlet is not your father’s Hamlet: it’s a version created by Vanessa Morosco and Peter Simon Hilton with a view to establishing gender equity in this classic play. Shakespeare’s original gives the main character of Hamlet no fewer than seven soliloquies and a good 2/3 of the stage time. Mindful of the growing number of women in the Shakespeare universe, Morosco and Hilton have reframed the play, distributing the stage time and soliloquies to female characters, adding excitement and a different edge to the familiar conflict. If you know this play, come and see how it’s done—and if you don’t, come and experience this age-old tale of life, death and revenge.
This year’s festival involves over 100 people: an acting company of approximately 50 members, with the writers, directors, stage hands, administrators and technical crew making up the remainder.
Edward Knowles rehearses the cast of Forethought by J Ben Hepburn and Patrice Francis as part of Short Tales 2024. Photo credit: Nicolette Bethel
As usual, we offer both student and senior matinee performances and our regular evening performances. We also offer discounted season tickets and various individual discounts for groups, students and seniors.
For further information concerning the festival you can contact us at the Dundas at 393-3728 or 394-7179 or email us at admin@shakespeareinparadise.org.