THEATRE UNDER THE STARS “DO THE SHREW” OPENING NIGHT PARTY

Renowned for its’ “bare bones bard” style, the New York Times and Boston Globe applauded Theatre Under the Stars’ “Shakespeare in the Valley” outdoor summer festival in Waterville Valley, NH opens it’s third season on Thursday July 24^th with its’ traditional Opening Night Celebration and Party, featuring free concessions items from the Common Man Restaurant and a “meet and greet” with the cast afterwards. The theatre invites audiences to “Do the shrew” with them in their “Battle of the Sexes Summer”, featuring “The Taming of the Shrew” and the New Hampshire premiere of “The Tamer Tamed” July 24th-August 23^rd in alternating repertory Thursday-Saturday evenings at 6:00 pm on their outdoor stage located next to the Elementary School/Rec Dept. Of it’s Opening Night show, Artistic Director Donna Devlin promises a “Shrew” that will warm the heart of even the staunchest feminist and reveals the tender heart of both the play and its’ timeless heroine, Kate. Its’ companion piece, “The Tamer Tamed” was written by Shakespeare’s protégée, John Fletcher in answer to some of the ‘taming” methods (used by Kate’s husband Petruchio in “Shrew”) that even Renaissance audiences found disturbing. In “Tamer”, Petruchio, now a widower, marries Maria. But before they can consummate their vows, his new bride is persuaded “to give him a taste of his own medicine” —with all of the women in the town backing her “cause” by refusing marital relations with their husbands until Petruchio is “tamed” as he tamed Kate! Hysterically funny and filled with unabashedly “girl power” speeches, this re-telling of “Lysistrata”, coupled with it’s sister piece, promises a summer of romance and laughter.

New for this year, audiences will get “2 shows for the price of one” as the Main Stage presentation begins with a pre-show at 6pm. Called a “green show” in Shakespeare’s time, each is a world premiere especially created for this season by noted American playwrights and rolls into the Main Stage production. The house opens at 5:30 pm for BYO beverage/picnic on the theatre lawn, “green show” at 6:00 immediately followed by the Main Stage presentation at 6:30. (An indoor stage means all shows are rain or shine!)

Evening shows are $10-20 with many discounts available, including a $5 gas discount (per car) that applies to non-overnight patrons who travel by car 40 miles (OW) or more. For more info about this “lean , mean Shakespeare machine” and its’ many offerings go to www.shakespeareinthevalley.com or call 603-726-0098.

“BATTLE OF THE SEXES” SUMMER IN WV!!

Renowned for its’ “bare bones bard” style, the New York Times and Boston Globe applauded Theatre Under the Stars’ “Shakespeare in the Valley” outdoor summer festival has been selected by best-selling author John Reed to produce the world premiere of his first play, “All The World’s A Grave” in a special preview presentation Thurs. August 21 on the company’s outdoor stage before moving on to the world premiere in New York City August 28-31^st, prior to the book’s September launch by Penguin Press.  Reed, who has written 4 novels as well as stories for such prestigious magazines as Playboy, New York Press and Time Out NYC, bills the play as “Shakespeare’s newest work” because all of the words were supplied by the Bard. In a clever twist, Reed deconstructed every famous Shakespearean tragedy, character and speech and re-combined and reinterpreted them in a fresh and innovative way. “All The World’s A Grave” follows the story of Hamlet, prince of Bohemia, at war to win the hand of Juliet, whose father is Lear, King of Aquitaine. Aided by his friends Iago and Romeo, they are victorious. His new bride at his side, Hamlet returns home to discover that his father is dead and his new stepfather is his uncle, Macbeth. Interweaving characters, speeches and plot points from Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, Henry V, Romeo and Juliet and (of course) Hamlet, it’s a witty and stunning new take that promises “this ain’t your Momma’s Shakespeare!”

“All The World’s A Grave” joins an exciting line up for the theatre’s summer season. Audiences are invited to “Do the shrew” with the company in their “Battle of the Sexes Summer”, featuring “The Taming of the Shrew” and “The Tamer Tamed” (“this time, the men get tamed!”) July 24th-August 23^rd in alternating repertory Thursday-Saturday evenings at 6:00 pm on their outdoor stage located next to the Elementary School/Rec Dept. Every night audiences get “2 shows for the price of one” as the Main Stage presentation begins with a pre-show at 6pm. Called a “green show” in Shakespeare’s time, each is a world premiere especially created for this season. House opens at 5:30 pm for BYO beverage/picnic on the theatre lawn, “green show” at 6:00 followed by the Main Stage presentation at 6:30. (An indoor stage means all shows are rain or shine!)

During the day, the theatre “puts the shake back in Shakespeare” by offering its’ FREE Town Square Interactive Family Matinee Series “rain or shine” all week-end: “Sugar-Coated Shakespeare”,(featuring 2 person teams of professional actors in a “fun for all ages” interactive tapestry of songs, sonnets, poems and scenes) presents, “Shakespeare and Spice” (a celebration of girls hosted by Snow White and Goldilocks), “Shock, Shiver and Shake-speare” (goblins, ghost and ghouls, hosted by the Wolf Man and Hansel and Gretel’s Witch), “Best Barddies” (a celebration of friendship hosted by Peter Pan and Tinkerbelle) and “Hard Bard” (starring Cleopatra and Hamlet in some of literature’s toughest works). “Sugar-Coated Shakespeare” kicks off Friday July 4^th with a special 2:30 pre-parade show at the Rey Center. The four different shows will then alternate July 5^th-August 23^rd at their regular time, 3:30 pm. Fridays at the Rey Center in Town Square, Saturdays under the Town Square tent. Sundays July 27^th-Aug. 17^th at 11am under the Town Square tent, families can join in the fun at “Bionic Bard”, a hilarious sketch comedy improv show that puts the audience in the spotlight! Due to the generosity of the WV Foundation, all Town Square shows are free to the public!

Kids age 8-16 take center stage at the theatre’s popular day camp, held at the WV Elementary School 8am-12pm M-F, August 11^th-22nd. In addition to their usual great teachers, this year’s camp also features visits from personnel involved with upcoming Shakespeare movies! The camp culminates in a “kids only” “Taming of the Shrew” presented as a double feature with the final show of the season, Sat. Aug 23^rd.  Evening shows are $10-20 with many discounts available. For more info about this “lean , mean Shakespeare machine” and the world premiere of “All The World’s A Grave” (its’ preview in NH on August 21^st or its’ world premiere run in New York City Aug 30-31^st) go to www.shakespeareinthevalley.com or call 603-726-0098.