This summer The Village Theater at Cherry Hill is hosting the Michigan Shakespeare Festival with three very different productions in its 2018 repertory season! Each play will bring something unique for audiences to experience from August 3 -19, 2018. The 24th Festival season includes Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Measure for Measure, and The Rover by Aphra Behn, the first professional woman playwright.
The Tempest, Shakespeare’s final masterpiece, is a stirring fairy tale of depraved royalty, foolish clowns, languishing lovers, and the quest to make things right in the face of terrible wrongs. The Tempest is directed by Artistic Associate Robert Kauzlaric, an award-winning director and actor whose previous productions at MSF (As You Like It, Cymbeline, Love’s Labour’s Lost, She Stoops to Conquer, Tartuffe) have all been crowd favorites. Dates & Times: 8/3 7:30 p.m., 8/5 3:00 p.m., 8/11 7:30 p.m., 8/16 7:30 p.m., 8/18 2:00 p.m.
Measure for Measure is one of Shakespeare’s most contentious comedies, which rings true with legal, social, and political issues we are still battling today, all tempered with a darkly-comic wit. In her review, on July 28, 2018, Bridgette Redman stated that “the Michigan Shakespeare Festival always commits to the highest quality of productions, and Measure for Measure stands tall amongst their history of shows.” Dates & Times: 8/4 7:30 p.m., 8/11 2:00 p.m., 8/17 7:30 p.m., 8/19 3:00 p.m.
Aphra Behn’s 1667 bawdy comedy, The Rover, rounds out this year’s season. Translator, playwright, poet, and spy, Aphra Behn was one of the first English women to earn her living through writing. Amid duels and disguises, set against the backdrop of a nation-wide party, the couples navigate duty, conflict, jealousy, and love in this vibrant 1677 Restoration Comedy. “The Michigan Shakespeare Festival Company does consistently stellar work, and The Rover offers ample proof,” wrote Patrice Nolan in her review on July 23, 2018.
Dates & Times: 8/4 2:00 p.m., 8/9 & 8/10 7:30 p.m., 8/12 3:00 p.m., 8/18 7:30 p.m.
Ticket prices range from $16-$40, discounts are available for AARP & AAA members, veterans, firefighters, police officers and teachers. Purchase your tickets online today at www.cantonvillagetheater.org or by calling 734/394-5300. Tickets can also be purchased at The Village Theater Box Office one hour prior to show time.
The Village Theater at Cherry Hill, located at 50400 Cherry Hill Road, Canton, MI 48187, is a regional center for the arts that offers the magic of live theatre, soul-stirring music, the thrill of dance, and the enjoyment of fine art exhibitions and events, in addition to providing a home for several cultural organizations and community groups.
For more information about Michigan Shakespeare Festival 2018 Season, visit www.cantonvillagetheater.org, or call 734-394-5300.