From Stan Hywet to Greystone, Ohio Shakes performs live professional theatre in Akron's richest cultural venues. The Ohio Shakespeare Festival regards the actors, the script, and the audience as the quintessential elements of the theatre.
As a professional theatre company, we are dedicated to articulating the inherently theatrical components of Shakespeare and his fellow playwrights throughout the ages in a manner that enables the collected imaginations of the artists to meet the collective imagination of the audience in a public celebration that transforms the world in which we live. Don't read Shakespeare--see Shakespeare LIVE.
Operating as usual
05/01/2022
"Take a wonderful story with comedic overtones, add extraordinary actors on a well appointed stage with exquisite period costumes with a surprise ending and you have the formula for an extremely entertaining evening of great theater. This show is worth the drive to Akron. Huzzah!" -Mark Horning, Cleveland Theater Reviews and Chagrin Valley Times
The Importance of Being Earnest performs until May 15. ohioshakespeare.com/earnest or 330-5-SHAKES
Read the digital program for the current Ohio Shakespeare production, or find programs from past shows.
04/16/2022
#iykyk
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST opens April 28.
ohioshakespeare.com/earnest
#ohioshakesEARNEST
04/15/2022
If you know, you know.
Join us for THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST beginning April 28.
ohioshakespeare.com/earnest or 330-5-SHAKES for tickets.
$5 student tickets in the gallery for EVERY performance!
#ohioshakesEARNEST
04/14/2022
If you know, you know.
Join us for The Importance of Being Earnest beginning April 28.
ohioshakespeare.com/earnest or 330-5-SHAKES for tickets.
$5 student tickets in the gallery for EVERY performance!
#ohioshakesEARNEST
03/26/2022
Hey Ohio Shakes members...check your emails. You have a you-heard-it-here-first announcement in there.
Thanks to Kerry Clawson, Akron Beacon Journal for covering our 15 minutes of music fame. Check out WEEZER's album here: https://weezerwebstore.com/
"Theater is a very fleeting art and that's the point, right? You see it live and then it's gone," Burgler said. "If this is our little piece of immortality, the refrain of 'Shakespeare makes me happy,' we've done our job right," she recently told OSF company members.
Ohio Shakespeare Festival of Akron tickled that its "Romeo and Juliet" show is inspiration for "Opening Night" song on new Weezer SZNZ: Spring album.
SZNZ: Spring - out everywhere now: https://Weezer.lnk.to/sznzspringLimited edition Little Bit of Love transparent red and light blue vinyl are available for ...
03/19/2022
ALL MY SONS is a hit. "...too good..." "...blown away..." "...still thinking about it today..." This weekend and next are you final chances to see this Arthur Miller classic. - https://mailchi.mp/ohioshakespeare/sonsrun
While we aren't mentioned by name, Rivers Cuomo did attend our 2018 ROMEO & JULIET and stayed afterward to chat about how much he enjoyed his time with Ohio Shakes. Seems like a song on the new Weezer album might be inspired by a summer night in Akron with Ohio Shakespeare Festival under the stars at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens.
Check out the interview here, and catch a snippet of the song which includes the lyrics"Shakespeare make me happy".
Don't know about you, but we are definitely buying the album.
Rivers Cuomo, songwriter of Weezer, talks about looking to Vivaldi for inspiration in announcing a quartet of seasonal releases this year and navigating three decades spent in the same band.
"'All My Sons stands the test of time because human beings' foibles are timeless, Pine said." - Kerry Clawson, Akron Beacon Journal
Enjoy this interview with company member Joe Pine, then join us over the next two weeks for this hauntingly beautiful piece. This afternoon's performance is Pay What You Will tickets.
Ohio Shakespeare Festival company member Joe Pine of Akron digs into ‘All My Sons’ role he's wanted to play for more than a decade.
03/12/2022
The inspiration and the reality. This set is just as much a part of the action as the actors in front of it.
ALL MY SONS opened last night with what an audience member called a "flawless" performance. Don't miss it. (Pay What You WIll performance is Sunday!)
ohioshakespeare.com/sons or 330-5-SHAKES
03/11/2022
Photos from Ohio Shakespeare Festival's post
03/10/2022
ALL MY SONS previews tonight ($15 tickets!) and opens tomorrow. You'll be struck by the beauty of the set, the costumes, the text, and of course, the acting. ohioshakespeare.com/sons or 330-5-SHAKES
Thanks to Flat Egg Productions (www.flateggproductions) for the beautiful trailer.
03/10/2022
The cast and crew reacting to the finished set for All My Sons. A video secretly shot by our set designer and production manager, Natalie Steen.
Want to see what they are seeing? Join us beginning Thursday for $15 Preview night, then Friday for opening.
ALL MY SONS opens next weekend. At points heartwarming and heartbreaking, this is an Arthur Miller production not to be missed. https://www.ohioshakespeare.com/sons
Before and afters. Season announcement photos from the shoot, and then what ended up in the final edits!
Check out the new season membership program at ohioshakespeare.com/memberships
03/02/2022
The 2022 Season Announcement
More info at https://www.ohioshakespeare.com
***
While our seasons used to span Summer - Spring, we are now transitioning into a calendar year rotation. Each new season will begin with the new year.
In this transition year, you'll notice some titles that you already knew about, and some that are new and exciting.
BY TESS BURGLER
ADAPTED FROM THE SHORT STORY BY GUY DE MAUPASSANT
TUNE IN 7PM EST, FEB 26
“She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans…She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury.
Jealousy and vanity lead to an unforgettable twist ending in this Victorian gothic drama. Tune in for a live—and free—radio play streaming on Facebook.
Don’t have time to catch it live? Enjoy it as a podcast! Listen anytime you’d like after it airs on our Soundcloud page; or stream directly from YouTube.
02/26/2022
TONIGHT! Listen live for our newest radio play. 7PM EST. "See" you there!
(Can't listen live? It will live on our website, youtube channel, and soundcloud afterward for listening anytime!)
02/25/2022
The 2022 season will be announced on social media, our website, and in our e-newsletter on March 1!
02/25/2022
Meet the voice actors behind THE NECKLACE, our radio play that streams live 2/26 at 7pm EST on our FB page.
Rachel Maria Ines as Matilda
Rodney Rice as Michael
Holly Humes as Freya
John Peters as Ensemble
and Samus Haddad as The Narrator
*Sound on* for this teaser of our newest radio play, live-streaming here this Saturday, 7pm EST.
THE NECKLACE
by Tess Burgler
Adapted from the story by Guy de Maupassant
Jealousy and vanity lead to an unforgettable twist ending in this Victorian(ish) gothic drama. Tune in for a livestreamed—and free—radio play on our page.
Don’t have time to catch it live? Enjoy it as a podcast! Listen anytime you’d like after it airs on our Soundcloud page; or stream directly from YouTube.
02/19/2022
Season announcement...coming soon...
#ohioshakes2022
02/18/2022
Our original Family Theatre Adventure script THE THREE MUSKETEERS: AN ADVENTURE, WITH MUSIC will get new life this summer at Door Shakespeare.
This play was written by company member Joe Pine and Actor-Manager Scott McKenna Campbell in 2017 and had its world premiere with us in downtown Akron. This is its fourth iteration of production across the country.
Ohio Shakespeare Family Theatre adventures will continue this Fall in downtown Akron...
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Videos
THE NECKLACE, a radio play
THE NECKLACE teaser
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella
MISS HOLMES, sneak peek
Drunk (Shakespeare) History: A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Ohio Shakespeare Festival regards the actors, the script, and the audience as the quintessential elements of the theatre. As a professional theatre company, we are dedicated to articulating the inherently theatrical components of Shakespeare and his fellow playwrights throughout the ages in a manner that enables the collected imaginations of the artists to meet the collective imagination of the audience in a public celebration that transforms the world in which we live.
For 17 years, Ohio Shakes has performed professional, accessible, and exciting Shakespeare outdoors at historic Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens. In 2016, we added an indoor stage at beautiful Greystone Hall in the heart of Downtown Akron. Between our indoor and outdoor stages, we bring to life Shakespeare, his contemporaries, and classic musicals year-round in Akron, Ohio.
We are a company model, which means that many of our performers have been working together for a decade or more. The relationships we cultivate with one another enhance and inform our performances and our relationship with the audience at large. A number of our performers are also “actor-managers,” taking on other duties to improve the quality of the theatre. For example, our resident actor-manger Joe Pine also serves as our in-house Technical Director. When he is performing as Romeo, he is also spending his days building the sets (outdoors and indoors). Ryan Zarecki is a leading actor with the company who also choreographs all our stage combat, and he also serves as Properties Master. Tess Burgler manages media content, administrative work, and more throughout the year while also acting in the shows. These are just three examples of our 12 actor-managers. This actor-manager model allows our employees to become more invested in our art on multiple levels, which in turn makes the art even more meaningful and thoughtful. (Plus, it’s not dissimilar to the way Shakespeare’s original company of actors produced their shows!)
We believe in the vibrancy and immediacy of Shakespeare and other classic plays/playwrights. We are known for exciting and daring live stage combat, acrobatic dancing, rowdy and lively Greenshow (pre-show) performances, and a direct approach to classic language that helps the words become clear and relevant. Our shows are briskly paced but easily understood.
Above all, we respect the work of the playwright. We do not impose concepts or new themes onto our productions, but instead, we serve as the vehicle to tell the author’s story as clearly as possible.
Happy Monday Afternoon! We hope you had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving weekend. Here are some photos from Friday's Downtown Akron Tree Lighting Ceremony. Shoutout to the City of Akron, Ohio - Mayor's Office and Lock 3 Akron, Ohio for putting on a great evening, and to Puzzle - Creative Solutions for creating the beautiful cityscape that is part of the Lock 3 environment this year.
There's lots of fun stuff to do in downtown this week and throughout the holiday season, including ice skating, ice bikes and bumper cars in Lock 3, live music and theater productions at the Akron Civic Theatre, Ohio Shakespeare Festival, E.J. Thomas Hall, live music, shopping, movies, art and more. Keep track of all of it with the DAP events calendar: http://bit.ly/DAP_Calendar
Im soo excited to be in the Ohio Shakespeare Festival production of Cinderella! I'm apart of the best doggone cast one could be involved in! The entire production team is AWESOME!!! And I can't wait to go to the ball with you all! ....Speaking of Going to the Ball! Join us at our 20 year anniversary Cinderella's Fairy Tale Ball
Happy Friday October 8, 2021 Everybody! The sheer amount of stuff to do and enjoy is daunting to say the least, but I'm here to say that we can meet this challenge together. Allow me to be your guide:
1. Akron Civic Theatre hosts Napolean Dynamite: A Conversation with Jon Heder, Efren Ramirez and Jon Gries (a.k.a. Napoleon Dynamite, Pedro and Uncle Rico) TONIGHT at 7:30 p.m. Sharing of tots at The Lockview before or after the event is up to you.
Also tonight: enjoy live music from The University of Akron School of Music faculty member and classical guitarist James Marron at Guzzetta Recital Hall from 7:30 - 9 pm. OR, dance the night away with The Ladies Night at Jilly's Music Room
2. On Saturday, join us on Cascade Plaza for Downtown K-Pop Skate Night from 6 - 9 pm. We'll be spinning your favorite K-Pop hits, along with Random Dance Play with UA K-Pop Club Xenon, and food from International Jerk and more finger hearts than you can count. 🫰
Or, crack the case with Ohio Shakespeare Festival's production of Miss Holmes at 8 pm on Saturday, or 2 pm on Sunday.
Enjoy live music at Akron Civic Theatre (Almost Queen), Jilly's Music Room (the Numbers Band), Musica ( Parting w/ Curtail, Glass Bones, Anna's Anchor, & The Last Arizona), Akronym Brewing's Biergarten (The Ohio Weather Band), or at Brass Day at The University of Akron.
3. On Sunday, why not reserve an elegant brunch with the Ohio Tea Lady? Or, drop in at NOMZ between 9 am and 3 pm, or Akronym Brewing from 11 am to 2 pm. Sunday evening, Rubber City Comics hosts appointment-viewing with its interactive Live Streaming Claim Sale at 7 pm. Just head over to their page to get some amazing deals on your fav comics, characters, Funko Pops and more.
BONUS: On Monday, October 11, Crave hosts another of their popular Beer Dinners, this time featuring the craft beers of Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. Seating is very limited, so call (330) 253-1234 to reserve a spot.
Wow, that's a lot! But there's so much more. Cast your eyes upon the DAP Events Calendar: http://bit.ly/DAP_Calendar
Subject: Book Recommendation
Author: Jasminka Maric
Title: Philosophy in Hamlet, 270 pages
ISBN: 978-86-900802-0-5
Publisher: Alfa BK University/author
Date of publication: 12/28/2018
https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Hamlet-Jasminka-D-Maric/dp/8690080201/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=jasminka+maric&qid=1552505849&s=books&sr=1-1-spellhttps://www.amazon.com/Filozofija-u-Hamletu-Philosophy-Hamlet/dp/8664610010/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=jasminka+maric&qid=1552505794&s=books&sr=1-2-spell
This is a book with brand new, fresh, original, groundbreaking ideas. The book represents a significant and unique treatment of the most famous Shakespeare’s tragedy. It is essential for the students of Shakespeare, English literature, philosophy, aesthetics, theatre, performing arts…
On the basis of the study of Hamlet by Lev S. Vygotsky, the book Philosophy in ‘Hamlet’ points out the philosophical problems set in Shakespeare’s enigmatic tragedy: the problem of being, the problem of the nature of reality, or another reality and another world, the problem of the transcendent, as well as the problem of time which is associated with a four-dimensional perception of reality, feelings of absurdity and meaning, drawing parallels between Jung’s phenomenon synchronicity and the tragedy of Hamlet, then the problem of the supernatural, idem est the metaphysical, and the philosophy expressed in the tragedy of Hamlet.
Ohio Shakespeare Festival is a professional theatre company performing live, classical plays at two locations in Summit County: year-round indoor theatre at Greystone Hall and an annual outdoor summer festival at Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens. Learn more at: http://www.ohioshakespearefestival.com
Two of The MacBath's soaps 🧼 are getting a bit of a makeover! The same great scents, but two new quotes. 🖋️ Keep your eyes peeled for their big debut.
One is being released tomorrow, and the other next week! Hint: Ohio Shakespeare Festivalgoers have already gotten a sneak preview of one of them. 😉
How much are the tickets for Mid Summer's Night Dream
