| Dear Friends,
Welcome to the twenty-first season of the Freewill Shakespeare Festival! We are pleased to have you join us at the Hawrelak Park Heritage Amphitheatre as we launch into an incredible Season of Firsts! In my first season as Artistic director, it is an honor to present superb programming that we hope will inspire, challenge and amaze you and your family and friends. In keeping with our Season of Firsts, we are delighted to present Titus Andronicus, not previously produced by the Freewill Shakespeare Festival. It is our privilege to introduce Jeff Page, who will be directing for our Festival for the first time. And for the first time in Freewill’s history, we are extremely excited to offer a Senior Citizens’ matinee performance. The Freewill Shakespeare Festival is pleased to present Titus Andronicus, and Comedy of Errors. Both written tentatively around 1590-1594, these plays show a young Shakespeare developing dramatic strategies that will spur him on to create some of his most hilarious plot devices involving sets of twins and mistaken identity. Shakespeare’s stellar creations of Titus, Tamora and Aaron the Moor, will later fuel him in conjuring some of his most celebrated characters: King Lear, Lady Macbeth, and Othello. The Freewill Shakespeare Festival and Teatro la Quindicina will collaborate this summer in offering a grandly scaled companion piece to Titus Andronicus. This potent new comedy by Stewart Lemoine looks directly into the dark eyes of ambition and revenge and returns their cold gaze with a dazzling smile! Mother of the Year runs from July 9th – 25th at the Varscona Theatre. We have a very talented team of artists working for us this summer – some are veterans, some are brand new faces – all striving to give you the best Shakespearean experience money can buy. We are proud to be among the best outdoor Shakespeare Festivals in the country due to the brilliant abilities our theatre professionals bring to the stage for your enchantment. It is an honor to step up to the role of Artistic Director and follow in the footsteps of many gifted individuals who have led the way. Having been a member of the company for the last ten years, I look forward to continuing to raise the bar in leadership as we enter into our third decade of programming! I personally invite you to join us at The Hawrelak Park Heritage Amphitheatre to celebrate our 2009 Season. Take advantage of a warm summer night or a sunny weekend afternoon, and bring your family and friends to either production. Whether enjoying a picnic or relaxing with a beverage in the Freewill Wine and Beer Patio, you are sure to be delighted and engaged by world class entertainment in the form of tragedy and comedy. See you at the Park! Marianne Copithorne, |
Marianne Copithorne Artistic Director |
| I will never forget the first time I came down to the park to experience The River City Shakespeare Festival as an audience member. It was 2001, I had just had my second child and was unable to perform that year. The production was As You Like It and it was magical to hear the music and see the gorgeous Edwardian dresses and hair blowing in the breeze, as the sun set on stage and Shakespeare's words were brought to life for myself and hundreds of adoring fans of all ages. There was the smell of popcorn in the air and the distant (at times not so distant) chattering of squirrels and birds. I had always heard from our supporters about what a great Festival we ran, but I had never experienced it first hand since I had started with this company in 1989. What a treat! I understand now why people keep coming back. Likewise, there is nothing I look forward to more than performing in the park in the summer for the River City Shakespeare Festival. |
 Artistic Associate |
| For many years now, doing the shows in the park has been one of my favourite gigs. There is such a sense of history and camaraderie among the core members of the company, as many of us were at theatre school together in the late eighties. And although our lives are now perhaps a little more complicated, with busy work schedules, children, etc., there is still a lingering excitement every time we get together, that goes back, I think, to those heady days when we were all just a bunch of recent grads, trying to make a go of it in the theatre scene in Edmonton. I think the moment on stage that just about sums it all up for me in terms of why the experience in the park can be completely unique and thrilling was during a performance of Julius Caesar one night, when John Wright, one of our veteran actors who was playing Cassuis, was performing the scene in which Cassius is dying, having just lost the battle with Mark Antony's army. Just as he was uttering the lines to the affect of "The sun now sets upon my life" a huge, blood red sun came out from behind a cloud in a sky that was ablaze in a magnificent prairie sunset, and bathed the whole stage in a unearthly orange glow. How can theatre get any better than that? |
 Artistic Associate |
| I've often said that if we had known how much work it was going to be that first year then we all would have probably taken holidays. I'm glad we were ignorant of the truth. After one season we were hooked and it became quickly apparent that our audience was getting hooked as well. It is always greatly satisfying to talk to people who can list the many seasons they have attended in the park and discuss how we have grown up together in our appreciation for the park, Shakespeare, and each other. We have evolved from "the little company that could" to a solid player in both the theatre and festival communities. Now, sixteen years later, there are so many who keep the festival alive with their dedication, hard work, and love. To them and to all those who have preceded, I am grateful. Thank you for keeping the dream of seven ignorant fools alive. |
 Artistic Associate |
