Play On Shakespeare Announces Summer 2024 Season

Play On Shakespeare, the not-for-profit organization dedicated to exploring the world of William Shakespeare in performance through translation and adaptation, has announced its summer 2024 season.

This summer, Play On Podcasts, presented by Next Chapter Podcasts in partnership with Play On Shakespeare, releases The Taming of the Shrew. Amy Freed’s modern verse translation is presented as satire in which the two smartest people in the room come together to tame the society that surrounds them. The series is directed by Art Manke, adapted by Amy Freed and Leanna Keyes, and set in Renaissance Italy. The first two episodes are available here. A modern verse translation of As You Like It by David Ivers and directed by Kim Martin Cotten will follow later this summer.

In addition, Play On Shakespeare will present the following in-person productions: Inferno Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream translated by Jeff Whitty and directed by Giulio Cesare Perrone at John Hinkel Park Amphitheatre in Berkeley, California, July 20-August 11; a movement-focused production of Coriolanus featuring a cast of female and non-binary actors with translation by Sean San José and adaption and direction by Rosa Joshi, presented by Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Portland Center Stage, July 23-October 13 at Thomas Theatre in Ashland, Oregon; A Midsummer Night’s Dream translated by Jeff Whitty and directed by Sara Bruner, presented by Idaho Shakespeare Festival in partnership with Great Lakes Theater, August 9-31, at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival Amphitheater & Reserve in Boise, Idaho, and October 4-27 at the Great Lakes Theater in Cleveland; and a co-production of Richard II with the Magic Theatre translated by Naomi Iizuka and directed by Dr. Karina Gutierrez, August 21-September 8, at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in San Francisco.

In addition, ACMRS Press (Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies) has released all 39 of Play On Shakespeare’s translations in print. Click here for more information.

Play On Shakespeare’s DEMOS project, a series of short films that demonstrate side-by-side performances of Shakespeare’s original text and the modern translations, is available on YouTube.