All negotiations are done, all plays have been chosen, actors are in rehearsal and the venues are all set for the 4th annual Shakespeare in Paradise Theatre Festival. In one month on October 5, the festival will officially open. This year there are five productions in five venues throughout Nassau.
First our Signature Shakespeare production "Merchant". This is the classic tale of "The Merchant of Venice", but since our production is set in The Bahamas, the "Venice" part of the title has been dropped. Gordon Mills, an actor in previous Shakespeare in Paradise productions and a veteran of the local theatre scene has taken on the task of directing, and for the first time in our short history, the venue for our signature Shakespeare production has moved from the Dundas to The College of The Bahamas in their beautifully renovated Performing Arts Centre. There will be eight performances with four of them being exclusive student matinees that will take place at 11 a.m. on the October 2-5. The other four performances will be open to the general public and can be seen on Thursday, October 4, which will be a special preview performance with discounted tickets for students and seniors. Friday, October 5 is the opening night for the festival and "Merchant" will be performed at 8 p.m. and again on Saturday evening, also at 8 p.m. The closing performance will take place at 4 p.m. on Sunday, October 7.
Our signature Bahamian production welcomes back playwright/actress/director Jeanne Thompson with her playwright hat on this time and her newly written one act play, "Back of the Moon". We will also present one of her classics, "Father's Day". This evening of two one acts is being called "Out o' Wedlock" and is directed by our festival's artistic director, Philip A. Burrows. The cast is a mixture of newcomers and veterans and this production will take place at the Dundas. There will be a total of eight public performances beginning with a special preview on Thursday, October 4, where again we will offer discount tickets for students and seniors. The remaining evening performances will take place on the October 5 (our opening night), October 6, October 11 and October 12. "Out o' Wedlock" will also have two matinee performances - one on October 6 and another one on October 12 holiday. Both matinees begin at 2 p.m.
As a part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Trinidad and Tobago's independence, Shakespeare in Paradise is pleased to present "Lion City Live". This production features Freetown, which consists of two Trinidadians, Muhammad Muwakil and Lou Lyons. This evening offers music, poetry and more. Performances will take place October 9 and October 11 at Antonius Roberts' Hillside House and on October 13 at Nirvana. Performances will begin at 8 p.m.
Continuing with 50th anniversary celebrations, Shakespeare in Paradise will also present, from Jamaica, "Mr & Mrs Blacke". This play is coming off a very successful and critically acclaimed run at the Philip Sherlock Centre at the University of the West Indies. The cast features Keiran King, who is also the playwright, and Sakina Deer. Paul Issa directs and the play is co-produced by Raisha Lovindeer. Performances will take place at the Dundas on October 9, October 10 and October 12 at 8 p.m.
Speak the Speech is a new work created by Philip A. Burrows and compiled by Nicolette Bethel. Research for this work comes mostly from The College of The Bahamas with help from Stephen Aranha, Christopher Curry, Clifford Rahming, Michael Stevenson, Nicolette Bethel and her students. Other research help comes from Reva Cartwright-Carroll, Dr. Gail Saunders and Philip A. Burrows. This production will consist of a series of speeches and correspondences from the landfall of Christopher Columbus to the present day Bahamas. Toni Francis, Nicolette Bethel and Philip A. Burrows will handle the staging for this work. Appropriately, this production will take place at The Bahamas Historical Society and performance dates will be October 8, October 10, October 11 and October 13 at 8 p.m.
Tickets for Shakespeare in Paradise productions are $25. We also offer discount ticket rates for students, seniors and groups. We believe that the best deal is our season ticket that gives you the opportunity to see all five productions with a savings of $25. The box office for Shakespeare in Paradise will open on September 17 at the Dundas Centre and will run Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until October 13, the closing day of the festival. If you have questions about advance bookings please feel free to contact us at 431-7197. For a full calendar and more information, visit shakespeaereinparadise.org and also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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