Riverside Announces 2011 Shakespeare Festival Shows

Riverside - This year's Riverside Shakespeare Festival, the company's twelfth, will feature a Eugene O'Neill play alongside a Shakespeare comedy.

The plays will be Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona, directed by Ron Clark, and O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness!, directed by Theodore Swetz. The two shows will run in repertory from June 17th to July 10th in Lower City Park in Iowa City.

“Neither of these has been produced for the Festival before,” said Artistic Director Jody Hovland in a press release. “They're both comedies, and both coming-of-age stories, but the feel of each play is very distinct: Ah, Wilderness! is warm and gentle, Two Gents is a merry, action-packed chase.”

Ah, Wilderness,first produced in 1933, is set on the 4th of July, 1906, and is concerned with the problems of the Miller family. 17-year-old Richard is in love with passion, poetry and Muriel. When his relationship is threatened, however, he is devastated, and he resorts to drink and loose women. His family deals with the fallout in this "study of family ties and horse sense."

Two Gentlemen of Verona is a "madcap romp" involving two friends, Proteus and Valentine, whose friendship is tested by a woman, Silvia. Proteus's fiancee, Julia, is none too pleased with this state of affairs of course. Cue disguises, confusion of identity, unlikely and ridiculous events: all the hallmarks of a classic Shakespeare comedy.

Riverside will be auditioning for actors for the Festival beginning December 11th. Information follows:

"Riverside Theatre will hold area auditions for the professional company of the 2011 Riverside Theatre Shakespeare Festival on Saturday, December 11, 2010, beginning at noon. Auditions will be held at the theatre, 213 N. Gilbert Street in Iowa City. To schedule an audition appointment, call the Riverside Theatre box office at (319) 338-7672.

Riverside Theatre will employ a full time, professional company, both Equity and non-Equity actors. All professional actors will be cast in both Festival shows and will also understudy. Full-time rehearsals begin May 17. The productions, Eugene O’Neill’s Ah, Wilderness! (directed by Theodore Swetz) and Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona (directed by Ron Clark), open in mid-June and play through July 10, an 8-week contract. Audition requirements: photo/resume, two contrasting monologues (one classical and one contemporary), three minutes maximum.

Auditions/interviews for the Shakespeare Festival Intern Company, open to undergraduate, graduate students or others seeking a full-time professional experience in the areas of acting, directing and stage management, will be held February 5, 2011."

More information here.