Summer Shakespeare in the Park

Riverside Theatre Presents As You Like It & The Merchant of Venice Through July 8

by Sarah Burnett

Ryland Thomas as Orlando and Kalen Harriman as Rosalind in Riverside Theatre's As You Like It.

Riverside Theatre, Iowa City’s resident professional theater company, kicked off its summer season with on June 15 with Shakespeare's As You Like It, directed by Theodore Swetz.

To mark the opening of The Merchant of Venice, directed by Kristin Horton, the Apprentice Company will perform a free preview Green Show on Friday, June 22, at 12:10 p.m. on Iowa City's downtown pedestrian mall (near Washington St.).

In As You Like It, Rosalind, Shakespeare's most breathtaking heroine, and her boyfriend Orlando find themselves in the enchanted Forest of Arden, where “all the world's a stage,” and where sudden infatuation is as confusing as it is beautiful. As You Like It has everything people adore about Shakespearean comedy: mistaken identity, cross-dressing, madness, mayhem, laughter, and romance…plus an original score and a cappella singing!

Kansas City based director Theodore Swetz directs this romantic comedy. Swetz is a founding company member of American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin, and is currently head of graduate actor training at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

“I believe we all need a little bit of ‘Arden’ in our lives—a place to reinvent and rejuvenate. We hope that a starry night at the Festival Stage gives our audiences one such escape,” said Swetz.

At Riverside Theatre in the Park, the Green Shows are performed one hour before curtain. These 20-minute story-theater versions allow the audience to brush up on the plot in advance of the evening performance. Green Shows are filled with humor and are family friendly.


Riverside Theatre in the Park runs through July 8
For more information about Riverside Theatre in the Park, please call the Riverside Theatre Box Office at 319-338-7672 or visit www.riversidetheatre.org.

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