Friday, February 22, 10 a.m. school performance (booking in advance only)Friday, February 22, 7 p.m.
Saturday, February 23, 7 p.m.
Sunday, February 24, 2 p.m.

Making Shakespeare accessible for young audiences is something Riverfront has worked at several times in past productions, and we’re doing it again. RTC loves Shakespeare, and are keen to share that love with our audiences. This year, we’re putting together a series of short plays in a mixture of modern and Shakespearean language, dialogues and small skits, at least one musical number, and tying it all together with some highly entertaining emcees who help to facilitate the audience’s understanding and appreciation of what’s being presented. Every performance will be a little different, we’ll be mixing up the content every day. If you already love Shakespeare, you’ll love what we’re doing. If you’re new to his works, you’ll come away delighted and much less intimidated by his work! Along with original content and specifically chosen selections from Shakespeare, we will be making use of the following one-act plays during this Festival:

Shreds and Patches, by Robert Wing

Shreds and Patches is a re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The location is a “wellness facility” for disturbed teens. Dane, our anti-hero, confronts his bullying step-father and self-centered mother with the help of his fellow patients and Dr. Osric. Will Dane be able to get through to his mother about “the king of shreds and patches” or will he be left in the dark?

The play fuses Shakespearean speech with modern dialogue, reinforcing the notion that the teens and adults speak different languages.

Shakespeare on a Shoestring: Cymbeline! By Michael Calderone

Did you know that Cymbeline has all of Shakespeare’s most famous plot devices? It has… Faked Death! Mistaken Identity! Parental Marital Veto! But wait, there’s more!

Join our players as they tackle the play in the Shoestring style, which emphasizes ensemble, the physical space (with all scenery created by living tableaux) and audience interaction.

Postcards from Shakespeare, by Allison Williams

“The words just aren’t coming out… it used to be so easy! Bang out fifty-odd pages, rush it to the theatre, collect the money. But now, I am a block, a stone, a worse than senseless thing.”

Shakespeare has writer’s block. Nothing inspires him. The best he can come up with is “Now is the winter of our irritation!”

He pleads to the one person who can help him – Queen Elizabeth the First. Queen Lizzy, who could be a writer herself if she weren’t so busy crushing the Welsh, sends Shakespeare around the world in 30 minutes. Denmark! Venice! Egypt!

Join his whirlwind tour as he desperately searches for material. Star-crossed lovers! Surprise death! Shipwrecks! Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark…