MUCH ADO, ELIZ REX and ANTONY AND CLEO Bow This Week at IL Shakes Fest

The Illinois Shakespeare Festival has become a year-round entertainment option, what with a staged reading in April from the Shakespeare Project of Chicago and a Theatre for Young Audiences show -- this year Shake, Shake, Shake Your Shakespeare by Nancy Steele Brokaw -- that started in mid-June. But the real repertory begins tomorrow with previews of the three mainstage shows. These three preview nights offer 2-for-1 tickets, meaning you can score those platinum-plus seats you always wanted for half price if you can use two.

Michael Pine as Claudio in Much Ado

Much Ado About Nothing, the witty romantic comedy that pairs too-smart-for-their-own-good Beatrice and Benedick, is up first, previewing tomorrow at 7:30 pm and officially opening Friday, July 11, at 8 pm. This Much Ado is not the one you're used to from previous Festivals or from the Joss Whedon black-and-white movie that hit theaters last year. This Much Ado features an all-male cast. Why shut out the ladies? Illinois Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Kevin Rich is a proponent of something called "Original Practices," which tries to recapture the way Shakespeare shows were performed in Shakespeare's own time. The idea behind it is to open up Shakespeare, to make it quick and breezy and accessible to modern audiences, with the thrust stage, outdoor setting and fast finish time attributed to Elizabethan staging. So Much Ado About Nothing, as directed by Jonathan West for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, will take a bow in the direction of "Original Practices," with men playing both the male and female roles, just as you might've seen in Elizabethan England, a time when it was considered immoral for a woman to be on stage.

Given the fact that there are a limited number of roles in Shakespeare plays for women, anyway, I will admit I am not a fan of this all-male notion, especially when it means that a role like Beatrice -- witty, wonderful Beatrice -- is handed over to the guys. Sure, that's what Will himself would've expected, but we're here and now, when it isn't lascivious or lewd for a female to trod the boards. I'd prefer we take our cue from Abigail Adams instead of Queen Elizabeth I and "remember the ladies" when it comes to performing Shakespeare.

Deborah Staples as Elizabeth Rex

Much Ado's all-male cast is also influenced by the second show on the schedule, Timothy Findley's Elizabeth Rex, directed by Paula Suozzi, which previews July 9 at 7:30 pm and opens July 12 at 8 pm. Elizabeth Rex was written in 2000 and it has been well-performed since then, including a very good Chicago Shakespeare production in 2012. It's a perfect fit for a Shakespeare festival, given that Mr. Shakespeare and some of his actors are characters in the play. And the Illinois Shakespeare Festival has made that fit even tighter, using the plays that appear in Elizabeth Rex to form its repertory and pulling the actors from one cast into the others.

Elizabeth Rex begins with the end of a performance of Much Ado by the Lord Chamberlain's men, with Queen Elizabeth herself in attendance. After the performance, the actors retreat to a barn to rest. Queen Elizabeth joins them, in dire need of a distraction as she awaits the execution of a former favorite, the Earl of Essex, who tried to raise a revolt against her. The Shakespeare we see is in the midst of writing Antony and Cleopatra, and he takes note of who and what Elizabeth is to create the grand Egyptian queen of his imagination.

Deborah Staples and Todd Denning

And that is why Antony and Cleopatra, directed by Artistic Director Kevin Rich, is the third play gracing the stage at Ewing Manor this summer. A preview of Antony and Cleo is scheduled for Thursday, July 10th, with its official opening night set for Sunday the 13th. Both shows begin at 7:30 pm. Keeping the connections coming, the actress who plays Elizabeth  in Elizabeth Rex, Deborah Staples, will cross over to play the titular queen in Antony and Cleopatra, too.

Similarly, the actors we see finishing up Much Ado as Beatrice and Benedick in Elizabeth Rex will actually play Beatrice and Benedick in the full, all-male Much Ado About Nothing on other nights. Those actors are Christopher Prentice (Beatrice) and Matt Daniels (Benedick), and they'll showcase their versatility by taking on Alexas and Enobarbus in Antony and Cleo.

For all the details on all three shows, visit the Illinois Shakespeare Festival website. You'll find a printable calendar, ticket info, and the scoop on extra tours, talkbacks and greenshows, and lots more if you investigate the Festival site.

Special Offer on Shakespeare Tickets Till January 29

The Illinois Shakespeare Festival sent out its season brochures last week, with all kinds of important info about what will be happening inside and outside the Theatre at Ewing in the summer of 2014. There's a variety of options, with subscriptions, "flex" tickets, individual tickets and a small number of steeply discounted $10 tickets available for Tuesday performances of Antony and Cleopatra, Much Ado About Nothing or Timothy Findley's Elizabeth Rex, this year's three mainstage productions.

A host of extras -- The Shakespeare Project's All's Well That Ends Well in April, performances from The Improvised Shakespeare Company on Saturdays in July and August, a family-friendly show called Shake, Shake, Shake Your Shakespeare written by Nancy Steele Brokaw, plus the usual green shows, tours and pre-show jazz concerts -- are back to keep you entertained.

All of that will be more important as we head toward the spring and the April Shakespeare Project performance and the May 15th deadline for flex tickets. But there's one special offer you need to know about now.

This one is only good through January 19, and it's a goodie. The Festival is offering what they call Platinum Subscriptions, including tickets to all three of the main shows plus a bonus ticket to allow you to bring a friend, for only $75. The regular rate for that  would be in the $89 to $99 range. But remember, that very special rate for Platinum Subscriptions is only good till January 29, 2014.

I will be writing more about the Festival's three main shows and how they interconnect in terms of casting and plot, as well as the provocative idea of "original practices" and the all-male Much Ado About Nothing that's in the works. But for now, you need to shake off the winter doldrums and plan ahead for a summer of Shakespeare (with a special appearance by Queen Elizabeth). You can find out more at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival website or Facebook page, or call 866-IL-SHAKES, visit the Illinois State University box office in person between 11 am and 4 pm on weekdays, or go directly to Ticketmaster.

Just a tip: If you have a hope of scoring a $10 Tuesday ticket, now's the time to do that, too. Those babies go fast!

It's MUCH ADO, TONY & CLEO and ELIZABETH REX for the ISF in 14

The announcement has been made, and we now know what will be playing when the Illinois Shakespeare Festival begins again next summer. This time, Festival Artistic Director Kevin Rich has created an integrated line-up, with two Shakespeare choices that link together through the third, Timothy Findley's Elizabeth Rex, which imagines Queen Elizabeth I taking a breather in the barn where Shakespeare and his players are lingering after a performance. They've just performed Much Ado About Nothing, which will also be on the Illinois Shakespeare Festival bill, and we see William Shakespeare in the midst of writing Antony and Cleopatra, which is the other show chosen for next summer. Ta da! All tied up neatly with a bow, and one of the best uses of repertory, overlapping themes and shared cast ever.

Husband-and-wife directors Jonathan West and Paula Suozzi, who have extensive credits in Milwaukee, will direct Much Ado and Elizabeth Rex, while Rich will take on directorial duties for Antony and Cleopatra himself. Much Ado was last seen at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival in 2007, while you'll have to go all the way to 1991 to find Antony and Cleopatra.

Here's how the Festival breaks down next year's offerings:

ELIZABETH REX, by Timothy Findley
Directed by Paula Suozzi

This brilliant, award-winning play imagines Queen Elizabeth spending the eve of her lover’s execution in the company of William Shakespeare and his players. Seeking distraction from her grief, she watches Much Ado About Nothing and afterward, banters with Beatrice about identity, sexuality and love. Meanwhile, Shakespeare is writing a new play called Antony and Cleopatra – about a Queen’s tragic affair with her lover – which Elizabeth finds suspiciously familiar. Elizabeth Rex will be performed in repertory with both of these Shakespearean plays, making a trilogy of uniquely connected productions that cannot be missed.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, by William Shakespeare
Directed by Jonathan West

Messina’s soldiers have returned from victory abroad to discover new battles at home! Sworn bachelor Benedick and his fiery counterpart Beatrice engage in a war of words and wit while their friends watch their attraction grow stronger with every skirmish. Meanwhile, Claudio plans to wed his true love Hero, unaware of the villainous Don John’s desire to foil his plans. Will these battles end in victory? Our hilarious production has the answers – and a whole lot more – featuring the same actors who play these parts in Elizabeth Rex.

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, by William Shakespeare
Directed by Kevin Rich

Shakespeare’s epic portrayal of Mark Antony’s intoxication with the stunning Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Drunk with passion, the Roman war hero and leader neglects his duties back home, ignores prophecies, and enrages his former allies by choosing Egypt and its beautiful ruler while the Roman Empire hangs in the balance. When Octavius Caesar turns on Antony, is his attack on Egypt enough to rouse the smitten soldier into action? Often requested and seldom performed, this production is as enchanting as its Queen. In our repertory, Cleopatra will be played by the same actress who plays Queen Elizabeth in Elizabeth Rex.

I am loathe to suggest I called this combination, because, well, I didn't. Last time I was making guesses, I went with Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar. But back when I reviewed Elizabeth Rex at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, I did include this little addendum:

As a side note, I would love to see Elizabeth Rex played in repertory with Much Ado About Nothing, which begins this play, and Antony and Cleopatra, which is supposedly being written during this play, with some of the same actors who are supposedly playing roles in Much Ado taking those roles in Much Ado, and the actor we see as Benedick and reading a few of Antony's lines taking those roles, too. Maybe we should even throw in A Winter's Tale, so the bear has something else to do?

With three plays in the Festival's rotation, there's no room for A Winter's Tale, but the other three are represented, so... Great minds think alike?