For 25 years, The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival has thrown its light on starlit evenings in Southmoreland Park, in summer camps and classroom programs for children, and true to its mission, all activities remain free.
[block pos=”right”] “How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”
— William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice [/block]
Started on a shoestring budget, the Festival was propelled by the enthusiasm and energy of its founder, Broadway producer and Tony award winner, Marilyn Strauss. Strauss, a Kansas City native and resident, serves as co-chairman of the Festival’s executive committee.
In celebration of those years, the Festival’s anniversary celebration, 25 for the 25th kicked off in August with a Playwright Slam at KC Rep. Events, performances and partnerships with several of Kansas City’s premiere arts organizations, museums and communities continue through the end of the year and into 2017.
“The Festival has welcomed between 25,000 and 30,000 audience members to Southmoreland Park every summer for the last five years,” says Sidonie Garrett, HASF executive artistic director. “Patrons come from every county in the metro area. In 2016 alone, attendees traveled from 27 different states to see Twelfth Night.”
The Festival’s year-round education programs, including workshops at area schools and libraries, reached more than 9,400 individuals in 2015-16, thanks to an increase in programming and offerings throughout the greater Kansas City community, Garrett said. That’s nearly double the number of students reached in 2014-15.
The 25 for the 25th celebration includes events at the Wornall House, Kansas City Museum, Loose Park, and Overland Park Arboretum, as well as adult acting classes and a four-week speaker’s series in conjunction with SPARK (Senior Peers Actively Renewing Knowledge). In February the Festival will present its first collaborative youth performance by Kansas City Young Audiences, which will share space with the Festival at a newly purchased building on Main Street.
March 2017 brings the Fishtank Performance Studios rendition of “Death by Shakespeare,” a collaborative production of an original Shakespeare-inspired play, and “The Tempest: a script-in-hand performance” presented by Johnson County Community College’s Performing Arts Series at the Polsky Theatre. The Tempest was the first play ever produced by the Festival.
The Kansas City Symphony joins the celebration on April 4, with “Classics Uncorked: Shakespeare in Music” at the Kauffman Center’s Helzberg Hall. Also in April, Kansas City Actors Theatre plans a staged reading of a Shakespeare play. This is a chance to see Kansas City Actors Theatre’s members, many of whom are longtime Festival alums, come together to present a staged reading of the Bard’s less-produced works.
And on April 22, there’s ShakesBEER Birthday Bash. This is the fourth annual bash to celebrate the life of William Shakespeare. The evening is full of live entertainment, games and prizes to support scholarship monies for program students.
For a complete schedule of events, visit www.kcshakes.org.
