August 23

UPDATE: Green Stage’s free Backyard Bard returns to Rodgers Park this Sunday

Arts & Culture, Local News

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Backyard Bard

UPDATE: GreenStage will not be on Queen Anne on Sunday. Their website had last year’s info on it (hence, Sunday, August 24th as the date). Thanks to a reader who commented about the date, we contacted GreenStage and confirmed there are no performances tomorrow.

For the past two years, Green Stage has brought Shakespeare in the park to Queen Anne’s Rodgers Park via its Backyard Bard performances. And, they’re coming back this Sunday – these free plays are the thing! Four actors take on the task of bringing Shakespeare’s tales to life in performances that run an hour each and are free and open to all.

The smaller venues and shorter productions provide a great introduction to Shakespeare, highlighting the “best parts of the larger play and bringing the story vibrantly to life in more intimate venues with verve and brevity.” Plus, they’re as family-friendly as possible, and “most times, the naughty bits go right over the kid’s heads” per Green Stage.

Actors Gavin McLean, Jennifer Crooks, Tyler Dobies, and Laura Lee Caudill play all of the characters in both plays, with on-the-spot costume and scenery changes adding to the fun of the production. Ken Holmes directs the Backyard Bard productions of Pericles and Twelfth Night, both of which will be performed at Rodgers Park on Sunday, August 24th, starting at 3pm. Both shows include shipwrecks, so the troupe posed for a photo in a pirate ship in Ken’s backyard. Quite fitting for the Backyard Bard season!

Green Stage troupe
Photo courtesy of Green Stage

Here are short synopses of the two plays, so you can be ready to follow the fast-paced action:

Twelfth Night – Sunday, August 24th, 3pm
One of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies and our original Backyard Bard play, Twelfth Night features a love quadrangle and some very trying houseguests who show no intention of leaving! Twins Viola and Sebastian are separated in a shipwreck. Viola, disguised as the boy Cesario, is the intermediary as Duke Orsino attempts to woo the wealthy countess Olivia. Of course, Olivia falls for Cesario, and Sebastian’s unexpected arrival on the scene leads to some hilarious complications. Will everyone end up with a spouse? Will it be the one they expect?

Pericles – Sunday, August 24th, 4:30pm
Pericles is a risk-taker. He realizes that whatever answer he gives to a riddle will get him killed. So begins an epic journey of ambitious risks, great rewards, and big falls for the Prince of Tyre. Pericles marries, has a daughter, and is separated from both along the way; shipwrecks always seem to happen at the darndest times. All three of them lead strange, marvelous lives and travel convoluted pathways to the end, when they’re miraculously reunited.

Green Stage sets up on the south side of Rodgers Park, in the open space near the southeast playground. Bring your low-backed chairs, blankets, and picnics to the park. All are welcome to attend the free performances!


Tags

Backyard Bard, event, free, Green Stage, Rodgers Park, Shakespeare


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