Mammoth’s First Shakespeare Festival is Off and Running!
THE TEMPEST
Perfomance dates –
Aug. 13,14,18,19, 21, 27, & 28 @7pm
Shakespeare’s magical comedy of betrayal, revenge, and ultimately, forgiveness. Twelve years prior, Prospero, the hero of this story, was the Duchess of Milan.
Being of a bookish disposition, she withdrew more and more into her studies, leaving the management of her state to her conniving sister Antonia. Eventually, aided by the usurpers, Alonsa, the Queen of Naples, and her brother Sebastian, Antonia steals the dukedom for herself, setting Prospero and her baby Miranda off to sea in a rotting boat. Unbeknownst to these wicked lords they survived, living since on a desert island with the help of Caliban, an islander, and Ariel, her foxy enslaved spirit
TAMING OF THE SHREW
Perfomance dates –
Aug. 12, 15, 20, 22, 25, 26, & 29 @7pm
The Plot depicts the courtship of Petruchio and Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate shrew. Initially, Katherina is an unwilling participant in the relationship; however, Petruchio “attempts to tame” her with various psychological torments, such as keeping her from eating and drinking, until she becomes a desirable, compliant, and obedient bride “or does she?”. The subplot features a competition between the suitors of Katherina’s younger sister, Bianca, “the perfect woman”, cannot be wed until her father finds a match for her headstrong, obdurate shrewish sister, Katharina. While suitors fight over Bianca’s hand, Petruchio, lured by Katharina’s large dowery, attempts to tame the beast. A wonderful, feisty comedic battle of the sexes ensues.
