Grand Valley hosts state's largest and oldest Shakespeare festival

Shakespeare lives again at Grand Valley State University, host of Michigan’s oldest and largest Shakespeare Festival. The 21st annual Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival will offer multiple events beginning September 26 and concluding November 1. Operated annually since 1993, more than 6,000 patrons attend the Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival activities each season.

Bard to Go: Lights, Camera, Action!
ArtPrize Performances
September 27-28, various times, outside Eberhard Center near Blue Pedestrian Bridge
November 1, at 1 p.m., Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Free and open to the public
Bard to Go returns with an all-new production that follows William Shakespeare on an adventure to modern-day Hollywood, where movie studio producers work to convince him to update his plays for modern-day audiences. New this year, the all-student traveling production company will be performing multiple snippets from their full show during ArtPrize on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus. To vote for Bard to Go during ArtPrize, use the voting code: 57604.


William Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors”
September 26, October 2, 3, and 4, at 7:30 p.m.
September 27, 28, October 5, at 2 p.m.
Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus
Tickets: $14 general admission, $12 alumni, faculty, staff and seniors, $6 students
Two sets of identical twins, separated at birth, miraculously find themselves years later in the same town in the Wild West, setting off a hysterical adventure of mistaken identity. This is the basis of “The Comedy of Errors,” one of Shakespeare’s most daring plots. The production features guest actor Paul Riopelle from the Actors Equity Association. Pre-show discussions with production dramaturg and Grand Valley English professor Jo Miller will be held on September 26 and October 4 at 6:45 p.m. in the Van Solkema Recital Hall in the Performing Arts Center on the Allendale Campus.


Shakespeare Festival Conference
September 26, at 4 p.m.
Pere Marquette Room, Kirkhof Center, Allendale Campus
This year’s festival is partnering with Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company to host the biannual Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival Conference, Shakespeare: Pedagogy and Performance. Registration is required for portions of the conference. Keynote speaker Tony Simotes, an accomplished director, actor, fight choreographer and artistic director of Shakespeare & Company, will present “Shakespeare’s Physical Text: Violence and Comedy for the Stage.” The keynote address is free and open to the public. There will be a reception preceding the keynote address at 3 p.m.


“Macbeth”
September 27, at 7:30 p.m.
Loosemoore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Tickets: $7 general admission, $5 students and alumni
The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company takes the stage to perform its 2013 Wilde Award nominated rendition of “Macbeth.”


Renaissance Faire and Greenshow
September 27, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
September 28, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Cook Carillon Tower, Allendale Campus
All ages are welcome to enjoy bagpipers, sword-fighting demonstrations, face painting, dancing, crafts and much more at this year’s Renaissance Faire. A free traveling festival Greenshow will also be performed at various times both days.

For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit www.gvsu.edu/shakes.