Today is Shakespeare’s birthday, and a few of my favorite Shakespeare moments come to mind. There was that performance of “Titus Andronicus” that I saw in Central Park in New York City in the summer of 1997 put on by Joseph Papp’s Free Shakespeare in the Park. I remember that it had the largest cast of any theatrical performance that I have ever seen. Olympia Dukakis and Moses Gunn were in that cast.
My most magical Shakespeare moment was viewing “Midsummer Night’s Dream” in the early 1980s at the American Players Theatre’s incredibly special setting in the woods of Spring Green, Wisconsin. It was an atmospheric evening presentation as the talented actor Randall Duk Kim played Puck as a bevy of bats flew above the stage.
Finally, just a few years ago, I saw the Strawdog Theatre in Chicago put on an energetic dramatization of “Cymbeline,” with a large cast of actors skillfully maneuvering around a ridiculously small performance venue. You were so close to the actors that you could see the freckles on their faces.
Please feel to share with us your favorite Shakespeare moments.
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