CEDAR CITY — The magic of Shakespeare lies in his plays’ ability to stay relevant four centuries after they were written. The timeless theme that binds the four Shakespeare plays at this year's Utah Shakespeare Festival — “Hamlet,” “Henry VI: Parts Two and Three,” “Macbeth” and “Twelfth Night” — is family relationships.
“The idea of family is present in all of the plays, whether it’s a very solid family unit or a dysfunctional family unit,” Brian Vaughn, artistic director of the Utah Shakespeare Festival, told the Deseret News.
This exploration of family brings with it all sorts of pertinent ideas that are bound to get audience members thinking — maybe of their own family, maybe of families they know.
“Woven in all of the plays (is) this element of ambition, honor, seeking the truth, as well as connecting with our family members to find the love and acceptance and empathy … that are really necessary right now,” Vaughn said.
Jealousy, ambition, love, support: these are ubiquitous in the human experience. And for Vaughn, this universality is what has made Shakespeare's work stick around. “I think some of these plays resonate now more than they ever did before,” Vaughn said.
Brian Vaughn, artistic director, directing at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
Karl Hugh, Utah Shakespeare Festival
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is now in its 58th season, and its longevity underscores Vaughn’s ideas. “It’s not by accident that people continue to look at these plays,” he said. “… All of Shakespeare’s plays are a kaleidoscope of human complexity, and they each show a facet of us as human beings that sometimes we didn’t know existed.”
The Utah Shakespeare Festival, which officially opens Monday and runs through mid-October, seeks to bring Shakespeare to new audiences and demonstrate the relevance of the plays in a contemporary context.
“History repeats itself,” Vaughn said. “I think you can learn from what has been before us.”
That notion of looking to the past to learn about the present and future is also what guides festival organizers as they select which plays will run for the season — “It usually comes down to what seems interesting to us right now (and) what social commentary might be present in the plays that is resonating in our world currently,” Vaughn said.
For Vaughn, the Shakespeare Festival is best experienced multiple plays at a time. “I think the best part of the festival is escaping into theatre,” Vaughn said. “It’s more than a play, really. It’s about how those plays wash over us. …
"People need theatre, they need art to open another element of themselves. And that’s really our goal.”
Below is the complete list of 2019 Utah Shakespeare Festival productions: “Hamlet,” “Henry VI: Parts Two and Three,” “Macbeth” “Twelfth Night,” "The Book of Will," "The Price," "Every Brilliant Thing" and the annual Greenshow.
A statue of Juliet on looks down on theater-goers on the grounds of the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
Cristy Meiners, Deseret News
‘Hamlet’
“Hamlet” is one of Shakespeare’s best-known tragedies and is also Vaughn’s favorite play by the Bard.
“It’s always relevant, always resonate,” Vaughn said. “There’s no better play that mirrors the pursuit of honesty and truth in our world.”
As Hamlet broods about his father’s murder, his uncle Claudius rules and courts his mother Gertrude. The play explores the family dynamic in a somber light, asking what we owe to our family members and what should be done when our loyalties to various relatives are at odds with each other. Vaughn directs this year’s staging, which will play in the Randall L. Jones Theatre.
• Dates: Preview dates: June 28 and July 2. Runs July 5-Oct. 12
• Showtimes: Days vary but performances are at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• Location: Randall L. Jones Theatre
• Price: $32-$73 Monday-Wednesday, $36-$77 Thursday-Saturday
• Content advisory: According to USF, "Hamlet" contains some adult themes and bawdy Shakespearean language. It is suitable for all except some pre-teens who may not be prepared for the intensity of the storyline.
‘Henry VI: Parts Two and Three’
There is perhaps no story so full of familial love, intrigue and cooperation than the history of the English monarchy. Shakespeare’s “Henry VI: Parts Two and Three” are part of a four-part retelling of the Wars of the Roses, an era when the two dominant English families, the Yorks and Lancasters, vied for control of the throne.
“Henry VI: Parts Two and Three” will play in the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre and audience should note that as this is a combination of two plays, the production runs 4 1/2 hours with a 30-minute intermission.
• Dates: Preview dates: June 29 and July 3. Runs July 6-Aug. 31
• Showtimes: Days vary but performances are at 1 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• Location: Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre
• Price: $52 Monday-Wednesday, $56 Thursday-Saturday
• Content advisory: According to USF, "Henry VI: Parts Two and Three" includes some violence related to battles of war and Shakespeare's typical innuendo. It is 4 1/2 hours long and is suitable for all audiences.
Festivalgoers at the Greenshow at the 2017 Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, Utah.
Cristy Meiners, Deseret News
‘Macbeth’
“Macbeth,” another of Shakespeare’s famous tragedies, follows Lady and Lord Macbeth in their bloody pursuit for power. Again, audiences are forced to ask how far they should go in the name of family loyalty.
“'Macbeth' is a play about ambition and about the consequences of taking action in a way that may not be right,” Vaughn said. “You don’t have to look too far in our time — (just) turn on the TV — to see some of this stuff unfolding in front of your very eyes.”
• Dates: Preview dates: June 27. Runs July 1-Sept. 6
• Showtimes: Days vary but performances are at 8 p.m.
• Location: Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre
• Price: $20-$73 Monday-Wednesday, $24-$77 Thursday-Saturday
• Content advisory: According to USF, "Macbeth" contains supernatural and bloody scenes and bawdy innuendo and may not be suitable for pre-teens.
Lest you become overwhelmed with Shakespeare’s tragedies and histories, the Utah Shakespeare Festival has also staged the comedic “Twelfth Night” this year.
“‘Twelfth Night’ is about love and it’s about reuniting family members,” Vaughn explained. “At the core of ‘Twelfth Night’ is a brother and sister — twins — who are separated in a shipwreck.”
“Twelfth Night" is a comedy full of disguises, mistaken identities and love triangles. In the end, however, all is sorted out and our characters end up satisfied. “This idea of bringing people together in the wake of pain and struggle is really quite beautifully woven,” Vaughn said.
• Dates: Preview dates: June 29. Runs July 3-Sept. 7
• Showtimes: Days vary but performances are at 8 p.m.
• Location: Englestad Shakespeare Theatre
• Price: $20-$73 Monday-Wednesday, $24-$77 Thursday-Friday
• Content advisory: According to USF, "Twelfth Night" includes Shakespeare's usual puns and innuendo and is suitable for all audiences.
Theatergoers look at the photographs of past actors at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, Utah.
Cristy Meiners, Deseret News
Other offerings
If 16th-century plays aren’t your thing, it’s not just Shakespeare at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. "Really, it's about finding a balance of offerings for people to come see," Vaughn explained.
'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'
Go, go, go, Joseph! Catch the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber smash hit “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at this year's Utah Shakespeare Festival. A Biblical satire paired with a variety of music styles, it'll leave you humming for days.
• Dates: Preview dates: June 27 and July 1. Runs July 4-Oct. 12
• Showtimes: Days vary but performances are at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• Location: Randall L. Jones Theatre
• Price: $37-$78 Monday-Wednesday, $41-$82 Thursday-Friday
• Content advisory: According to USF, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" is great family entertainment suitable for all audiences.
“The Price,” a play by "The Crucible's" Arthur Miller, focuses on two estranged brothers who meet again after the death of their father. Over the course of the play, their angst and unanswered questions are brought back to the surface.
• Dates: Runs Sept. 12-Oct. 12
• Showtimes: Days vary but performances are at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• Location: Eileen and Allen Anes Studio
• Price: $52 Monday-Wednesday, $56 Thursday-Friday
• Content advisory: According to USF, "The Price" has no adult language or situations, but the story may not be enjoyable for pre-teens.
The Randall L. Jones Theatre glows at night at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, Utah.
Cristy Meiners, Deseret News
“Every Brilliant Thing” speaks to the modern suicide epidemic from the perspective of a mother and son. “Utah has one of the highest suicide ratesin the country, and the play is really about a lone individual who’s going through that in their own family, but also (about) trying to see the beauty around us to hopefully give us that moment of pause that can … give us hope,” Vaughn said.
“For Utah residents, it’s something that I think should be seen, for young people to see something in front of their eyes to give them the idea that there is help.”
• Dates: Runs July 11-Oct. 12
• Showtimes: Days vary but performances are at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• Location: Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre
• Price: $52 Monday-Wednesday, $56 Thursday-Friday
• Content advisory: According to USF, "Every Brilliant Thing" discusses suicide but handles it with warmth and hope. If prepared properly, the show is suitable for all audiences and can start an important discussion for all ages.
Additionally, this season, “The Book of Will” offers insight into the preservation of Shakespeare’s groundbreaking work.
“‘The Book of Will’ … (shows) how (Shakespeare’s) theatrical family — basically, the actors in his company — rally to collect and assemble the plays into one volume, which we now know as the First Folio,” Vaughn said. Without the First Folio, we might not even know who Shakespeare was, much less have so much of his work preserved.
• Dates: Preview date: June 28. Runs July 2-Sept. 5
• Showtimes: Days vary but performances are at 8 p.m.
• Location: Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre
• Price: $20-$73 Monday-Wednesday, $24-$77 Thursday-Friday
• Content advisory: According to USF, "The Book of Will" contains some mild adult language and humor similar to Shakespeare's plays but is suitable for most audiences.
Prepare for the evenings' plays with the free, outdoor entertainment that Utah Shakespeare Festival calls the Greenshow. “(It) is pre-show entertainment that we have prior to our evening performances that's a combination of singing and dancing and improv that happens nightly. It's free to the public,” Vaughn said. Performers alternate between three different shows. This year, Scott Sharp is featured on the bagpipes.
Dates: Runs June 27-Sept. 7
Showtimes: Days vary but performances are at 7:10 p.m.
Location: Ashton Family Greenshow Commons
Price: Free
Content advisory: The Greenshow is appropriate for all audiences.