Full Schedule Set for Orlando Shakespeare’s PlayFest, Headlined by Olympia Dukakis

The full schedule has been announced for Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s sixth annual PlayFest!, to run January 23-February 1.

As previously announced, Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis will appear as Prospera on January 30 and 31 in readings of Another Side of the Island, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, written by Dukakis, Margo Whitcomb, and Gregory Hoffman. She will also conduct a Master Class in acting on January 28 from 6 pm to 9 pm. The general public may audit the class, and seating is limited to 100 seats.

Dukakis has appeared on Broadway in Rose, Social Security, and Who’s Who In Hell. She won the Academy Award for her work in Moonstruck, and her other film and television credits include Steel Magnolias, Mr. Holland’s Opus, and Tales of the City.

The festival will include full productions of David Davalos’ Wittenberg (January 21-February 15), starring Eric Hissom and Jim Helsinger, and a new musical version of The Velveteen Rabbit (January 17-February 22), featuring music and lyrics by Amanda Wansa and Patrick Flick, with a book by Flick based on the original story by Margery Williams.

There will also be workshop productions of Kevin Christopher Snipes’ The Chimes (January 24-February 1) and Ian August’s Missing Celia Rose (January 24-February 1), as well as readings of Kathleen Cahill’s Charm, Eric Hissom’s The Ghosts of Sleepy Hollow, Suzanne O’Donnell’s adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris, John MacNicholas’ The Queen’s Physician, John Biguenet’s Shotgun, Chris Gavaler’s The Tragedy of John Wilkes Booth, and Steven Dietz’s Yankee Tavern.

For more information, call 407-447-1700 or visit orlandoshakes.org.