The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s tour is bringing its next production to Illinois this summer.
The festival’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will stop in Edwardsville at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, at City Park during its 24-stop tour of the bi-state area. The 24 tour dates include multiple stops in Illinois, including Brussels and East St. Louis.
This Shakespeare Festival company is full of St. Louis area artists on the rise, including director Tre’von Griffith, known locally as musician and composer Tre G, fashion designer Brandin Vaughn on costumes, and a cast of six young actors bringing to life a new afro-futurist musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic comedy.
Not only is the show itself noteworthy for its freshness, visiting 24 parks and neighborhoods from Aug. 2-27 across the metro area, it’s one of (if not the) largest free and outdoor Shakespeare tours in the country.
On Tuesday, Aug. 2, the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival will continue its summer of free Shakespeare with a family friendly regional
tour of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The 90-minute production will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, Aug. 2-27.
“Shakespeare in the park has always been free, and always will be,” said producing artistic director Tom
Ridgely. “But we knew that for these plays to truly belong to everyone they had to be seen and enjoyed not only in St. Louis’s biggest and most beautiful park (Forest Park), but in the smaller neighborhood parks that are the heart and hub of so many of our communities.
“TourCo is weaving Shakespeare’s wit and wisdom into the fabric of our daily lives, where it belongs. And Tre’s enchanting vision is making more people feel welcome in that world than ever before.”
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is one of Shakespeare’s most joyful and beloved comedies. The central characters fall in and out of love while lost in the magical fairy forest where mischief and meddling run wild. But despite all the enchantments and fun, there is a story of self-love and exploration which is the focus of this afro-futurist production.
“I am so excited to bring Midsummer to all of St. Louis,” Griffith said. “Much like the characters in our play we are enchanted by the setting: 24 parks across the St. Louis metro area that largely remain untapped by the performing arts community. This production will be full of joy, magic, color and most of all love.
“We are bringing you a wonderful ode to self-expression where all are welcome and we certainly hope you find your way to one of the free shows, whether it’s in your own neighborhood or a new one.”
While this is only the second public parks tour for the festival, TourCo is a continuation of a 20-year history of traveling productions that previously visited upwards of 50 schools each spring. This year’s tour will kick-off Tuesday, Aug. 2, at Kiener Plaza in Downtown St. Louis, and continue on to Tower Grove Park, 9 Mile Garden in Affton and Trojan Park in Wellston, all in Missouri. Then the festival’s production will continue to Bellevue Park in Belleville and back to Missouri at Fairground Park in North St. Louis to round week one.
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