September 28, 29, October 4, 5, 6, at 7:30 p.m. 

September 30, October 6 and 7, at 2 p.m.

Our last two seasons brought love comedies to our festival mainstage with productions of Twelfth Night in 2011 and As You Like It in 2010. This season will be filled with other strong emotions as the winter of discontent falls early onto the Mainstage production of Shakespeare’s complex tragedy Richard III.

Prepare for deceit, conceit, seduction, hatred, mischief, mayhem, villainy, murder, and evil. Bring a horse if you have one, because Richard’s going to need it. This production expands some on Shakespeare’s classic text with a few added moments from Shakespeare’s history trilogy Henry VI in order to contextualize some of the backstory to the conflict. And there will be conflict as civil war reigns and the future of the throne is at stake because a “world is grown so bad / That wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch.” Veteran Actors' Equity Union actor Brian Webb Russell is “determined to prove a villain” by taking on the challenging title role of one of Shakespeare’s most notorious and evil characters. Webb performed previously

Brian Webb Russell as Oberon
for the Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival as Oberon/Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2008, as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 2002, and as both Antipholus twins in Comedy of Errors in 2000. 
Energy, action, revenge, suspense, intrigue . . . the ultimate seduction of an entire country. Richard III highlights the drama of Shakespeare’s classic story of the man who would be king – no matter how many throats he has to cut to get to the throne! This classic tale of seduction and intrigue takes the audience on an unforgettable journey though the mind of an evil genius: “But then I sigh, and, with a piece of scripture, / Tell them that God bids us do good for evil: / And thus I clothe my naked villainy / With odd old ends, stol'n out of holy writ; / And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.” Shakespeare’s tragedy depicts Britain’s history at the end of civil war culminating in Richard’s defeat to Henry Tudor, which ushers in a new age and renaissance for England. The Festival’s production will feature passages from Shakespeare’s Henry VI trilogy to help enrich the story of the feuding royal houses. 

Heather J. Hartnett in Cymbeline

Scott Wright in As You Like It

The Shakespeare festival Mainstage production features visiting professional artists, regional artists, and Grand Valley students.  Richard III is directed by Festival member Karen Libman. Guest Actor's Equity Union Stage Manger Cindy Alberg manages the production. Joining Webb and playing Queen Margaret will be local actor and festival alum Heather J. Hartnett, who as a student performed as Ariel in The Tempest and appeared as an alum as the Queen in Cymbeline. Scott Wright, another local actor who last appeared for the festival as Amiens in As You Like It, will perform as Buckingham. 

 Additional Richard III Festival Events

Pre-show Discussion

Features Guest Scholar Dr. Carole Levin (September 28) and Production Dramaturg and Grand Valley English Professor Dr. Jo Miller (October 6)
September 28 and October 6....................................... 6:45 p.m.
Van Solkema Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus
Opening Night Reception
There will be a free, public reception following the opening night performance of Richard III. The reception will include a cash bar.

Secondary School Matinees

October 2, 3, 4 ............................................................ 10 a.m.
Student matinee performances are for area secondary schools who preregister to attend the performances. For registration information or questions, contact Jo Miller, Shakespeare Festival's schools liaison, at millerj@gvsu.edu .

Page last modified September 15, 2012