Montford Park Players present "The Asheville Shakespearience"

Montford Park Players, an Asheville theatrical tradition, is proud to announce their upcoming presentation of The Asheville Shakespearience, a collection of some of William Shakespeare’s greatest scenes. The show will be directed by Christine Eide, Caleb Owolabi, and Adrian Suskauer, and will be presented at the Hazel Robinson Amphitheater, located at 92 Gay Street in the heart of the Montford region of Asheville, May 13^th through the 28^th. Performances will be on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, beginning at 7:30pm. All summer shows at the Amphitheatre are absolutely FREE to attend. 

Montford Park Players, has been presenting Shakespeare and other classical works to the Asheville community since 1973,

and has since grown to be one of Western North Carolina’s most beloved and well-known cultural attractions. They haven’t presented Shakespearience since 2011, but are bringing it back for their 2016 season due to popular demand. 

Scott Keel, Montford Park Players’ new Artistic Director, said about this particular production, “So many of our patrons love coming out for our shows, but miss some of their favorites from season-to-season. Shakespearience gives everyone an opportunity to gear up for our summer season with some of Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits, before we delve into the full-length plays.” The Asheville Shakespearience was originally conceived by Montford Park Players as a way for audiences to get a taste of Shakespeare’s works without having to watch a full-length play. It was also an opportunity for actors to get to perform some of his best scenes from several of his more popular plays all in one night. It then evolved into opportunities to play with his text and his scenes in ways that wouldn’t work in a full-length play. The show has served as a tool to explore and drive his works in ways that working on a single production doesn’t normally allow. In this incarnation, Montford has recruited multiple directors to tackle the play together, each working a few scenes that are presented. This allows new directors to explore Shakespeare without the daunting task of taking on a full-length Shakespeare play. To that end, Montford is happy to welcome Christine Eide and Caleb Owolabi, and welcome back Adrian Suskauer. 

Both Christine and Caleb are new to the Montford director’s pool, but Adrian is a veteran, having helmed Shakespeare’s As You Like It last season. “We hope to see much more of these fine directors’ work in the future,” says Artistic Director, Keel, “and this is a fantastic way for our audiences and actors to get to know them. The Asheville Shakespearience provides the perfect model for directors to display exactly that skill, and I can’t wait to see it all come together.” 

The play will star many Asheville favorites and even more Montford regulars. Montford Park Players is proud of this production and happy to continue to bring FREE Shakespeare in the park to our ever-supportive community. 

More information regarding the show or advanced seating reservations can be made at montfordparkplayers.org or you can call them at (828) 254-5146.