[NEohioPAL] Cleveland Shakes' Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead opens this weekend!

[Julie Fogel]

Cleveland Shakes' Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead opens this weekend at Tri-C Western Campus, Parma, 7 p.m. "curtain"

Continuing its mission to produce plays written or influenced by William Shakespeare, this summer Cleveland Shakespeare Festival offers up one of The Bard’s greatest tragedies, Hamlet, performed in rotating repertory with Tom Stoppard’s tragicomedy, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the college chums of Hamlet and their story is what happened behind the scenes in Shakespeare's play. What were they doing there in Elsinore anyway? "I don't know; we were sent for." They are not only anti-agents, but also anti-sympathy, anti-identification, and in fact anti -persons, which is uniquely demonstrated by their having such a hard time recollecting which of them goes by what name. The Players come and go; Prince Hamlet comes through reading words, words, words; foul deeds are done; Hamlet is sent abroad, escapes death; and in turn Rosencrantz and Guildenstern find their "only exit is death."

The Performances:
All performances begin at 7:00 p.m.

Hamlet 
Friday, June 20 at Tri-C Western Campus, Parma (opening weekend)
Saturday, June 21 at Tri-C Western Campus, Parma (opening weekend)
Saturday, July 5 at Falls River Square Amphitheater, Cuyahoga Falls
Saturday, July 12 at Penitentiary Glen Nature Center, Kirtland
Saturday, July 19 at Shaker Heights Community Colonnade, Shaker Heights
Saturday, July 26 at LCCC Stocker Center for the Arts, Elyria
Saturday, August 2 at Tremont's Lincoln Park Gazebo, Cleveland

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead 
Friday, June 27 at Tri-C Western Campus, Parma (opening weekend)
Saturday, June 28 at Tri-C Western Campus, Parma (opening weekend)
Sunday, July 6 at Falls River Square Amphitheater, Cuyahoga Falls
Sunday, July 13 at Penitentiary Glen Reserve Nature Center, Kirtland
Sunday, July 20 at Shaker Heights Community Colonnade, Shaker Heights
Sunday, July 27 at LCCC Stocker Center for the Arts, Elyria
Sunday, August 3 at Tremont's Lincoln Park Gazebo, Cleveland

Dana Hart will direct Hamlet and John C. Davis will direct Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead while serving as fight choreographer on both productions. As in years past, scenic and lighting design is provided by Mother Nature as the outdoor venues provide both the sets and the lighting for each production. Audience members are encouraged to pack a picnic and bring blankets and lawn chairs. 

In the event of rain, each venue offers an indoor performance space with two exceptions: Cuyahoga Falls River Square Amphitheater, Saturday, July 5, and Penitentiary Glen Nature Center, Saturday, July 12. In each of these cases, should inclement weather result in a performance being cancelled, either before or even mid-performance, the performance would not be rescheduled.

The locations for CSF’s 11th season include: Tri-C’s Western Campus, 11000 Pleasant Valley Road, in Parma; the Falls River Square Amphitheater on Broad Boulevard at Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls; the Penitentiary Glen Nature Center, 8668 Kirtland-Chardon Road in Kirtland; the Shaker Heights Community Colonnade, 3450 Lee Road in Shaker Heights; the Lorain County Community College’s Stocker Center for the Arts, 1005 Abbe Road North in Elyria; and the Lincoln Park Gazebo, W.14th at Starkweather Road in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood. 

More information about the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival and its 11th Season is available at www.cleveshakes.org or by emailing cleveshakes08info at yahoo.com.