Exploring the outcast, the excluded, and the other.

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The theme of this summer’s Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival is, unfortunately, quite timely. What does Shakespeare have to say about those on the margins of society? Those who are cast out, forgotten, pushed aside? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Through three of his most famous works, this NDSF season explores what it means to exist on the edges of an arbitrarily selective culture.

“Poison his delight.”
So much has changed since Shakespeare’s time, and yet, so much remains the same. The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, one of Shakespeare’s most powerful (and famed) dramas, comes ready-made with controversial themes; race, duty, jealousy, prejudice, and manipulation all swirl about in its tragic story.

And yet the hope of all dramatists, excoriating though their material can be, is to help us move forward into a better world. As director Cameron Knight notes in his season essay, “Will we continue to seek safety and community in hate? Or can we have the hard conversations and take the strong actions to make a world we all can be proud of?”

Othello comes to life in a bold new Professional Company production here at Notre Dame beginning August 14th. Starring in the title role is Esau Pritchett, a powerful and dynamic actor seen often onscreen (Orange is the New Black, Luke Cage, The Night Of, The Blacklist) and onstage (Broadway’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Orlando Shakespeare Festival, and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, among many others). The cast also includes veteran stage actor Robert Ramirez as Iago, Delaney Feener as Desdemona, Paul Hurley as Roderigo, and Chicago actor Maggie Kettering as Emilia.

  • WHEN: August 14-26, 2018
  • WHERE: Patricia George Decio Theatre, Marie P. DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, Notre Dame, IN

Tickets for Othello are $15-$40 and can be purchased here.

Giving back to our community.
The mission of the Fremont Park Foundation is both simple and grand: To provide positive activities for young people and adults alike. Indeed, the Fremont Park Foundation has made a huge impact in areas of the city that have, until now, been overlooked or underserved. Fremont Park itself has been bestowed with transformative new additions, including a splash pad, new playground equipment, and new basketball courts. Why not add some Shakespeare into the mix as well?

To that end: Shakespeare in Fremont Park, a seven-week program involving community based organizations in South Bend. Focused on the city’s west side, the effort will allow young people to work directly with adults to create, rehearse, and perform a theatre production inspired by Shakespeare. Performing July 26 & 27 at 7pm, the Shakespeare in Fremont Park performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream features a cast drawn from local neighborhoods, in a bouncy and vibrant new staging directed by upcoming talent Marlon Burnley.

  • WHEN: Thursday, July 26 & Friday, July 27, 2018 at 7:00pm
  • WHERE: Fremont Park, 1800 Fremont St. ad W. Hamilton St., South Bend, IN

For more information about Shakespeare in Fremont Park, click here.

Don’t forget…
The Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival’s Touring Company performance of The Merchant of Venice is on the road now! Check out an exclusive musical performance from the show below, and be sure to catch one of their shows, touring now through August 20 to multiple outdoor locations across Michiana.

Visit shakespeare.nd.edu for more information.