Miller Outdoor History professor Martin Melosi focuses his research on the history of urban development and policy making from an environmental perspective. | Photo Courtesy of Melissa Carroll/Office of University Communicationsis home to the 37th season of Houston Shakespeare Festival.
This summer marks the 37th season of Houston Shakespeare Festival, an event that was originally started by Sidney Berger, director of the UH School of Theatre and Dance at the time and co-founder of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America.
Since then, the University has been heavily involved with the festival, casting students and employing artistic directors from the School of Theatre and Dance. In recent years, the festival has attracted upwards of 450,000 theater-goers, according to the HSF website.
This year, Shakespearean classics “Othello” and “The Taming of the Shrew” are on the festival’s lineup, which is directed by UH Head of Graduate Acting & Directing Jack Young, who is the former Artistic Director of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.
Cast members have weeks to rehearse and only a couple of days to put the plays together, but they still manage to put on a show that is both captivating and entertaining, giving new life to timeless Shakespeare scripts, this according to UH Theatre & Dance senior Danielle Bunch.
The Houston Shakespeare Festival’s production of “The Taming of the Shrew”will be “very American,” and features a set that is “a melting pot of styles,” Young told the Houston Chronicle.
The festival opens this weekend with performances of “The Taming of the Shrew” July 30, Aug. 3, 5 and 7 and “Othello” on July 29, 31, Aug. 2, 4, and 6, all at 8:30 p.m. at Miller Outdoor Theatre.
For further information, visit the HSF website, www.houstonfestivalscompany.com/hsf or call (281) FREE-FUN.
