Wichita Shakespeare Company

Wichita Shakespeare Company presents Macbeth, performed in the parks around the city. See below for performance schedule. Admission is free. All shows start at 7 pm.

The play is directed by Mark Schuster, who is making his directorial debut with WSC. Mark is a veteran WSC actor. Previous credits include “The Merry Wives of Windsor”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, and “Much Ado about Nothing”. The impressive cast assembled for this production includes Jim Crawley as Macbeth, Vonda Schuster as Lady Macbeth, and Ed Belsan as Macduff. The supporting players are Deb Campbell, Elizabeth Anderson, Charlene Grinsell, Mary Tush-Green, Stephanie Dennis, Crystal Meek, Stephanie Brean, Frankie Dennis, Asha Belsan, Spencer Jones, Adrian Kinney, Luke Ebersole, Ben Blankley, Robert Esau Rutherford, Cody Esau Rutherford, Robert Ryder, Ben Sanders, Larry Belew, and Joey LeCompte.

Friday, September 3: Central Riverside Park, Wichita
Saturday, September 4: Hap McLean Park, Park City
Sunday, September 5: Riggs Park, Haysville
Friday, September 10: College Hill Park, Wichita
Saturday, September 11: Buffalo Park, Wichita
Sunday, September 12: Andover Sports Park, Andover
Friday, September 17: College Hill Park, Wichita
Saturday, September 18: College Hill Park, Wichita
Sunday, September 19: High Park Amphitheater, Derby

Additionally, we must inform our patrons about Wichita Shakespeare Company’s policy of closed rehearsals. Attendance at WSC rehearsals is restricted to those people either in the Cast or Crew, or adult guardians for any minor cast members. Thank you in advance for complying with our closed rehearsal policy.

PDF of Macbeth poster

Wichita Shakespeare Company Presents The Merry Wives of Windsor from Ben Blankley on Vimeo.

The Merry Wives of Windsor
Presented by Wichita Shakespeare Company
Sponsored by Wichita Park and Recreation Department

The Wichita Shakespeare Company (WSC) opens its 2010 Shakespeare-in-the-Park series with “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” One of the bard’s most frothy comedies, the play contains one of Shakespeare’s most beloved creations, Sir John Falstaff. The character also appears in the Bard’s two “Henry IV” plays. It is said that Queen Elizabeth was so enraptured by the character of Falstaff in the other plays that she requested Shakespeare to write him a larger role in a comedic play. The plot of this play details the comic exploits of the amoral Sir John Falstaff as he tries to woo two married women in the town of Windsor.

The play is directed by veteran WSC director Jane Tanner. Jane’s prior WSC directing experience includes last season’s “Romeo and Juliet” and 2008’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” Jane, also a Mary Jane Teall award-winning costume designer, is also doing the costumes for the show. Jane has been involved in every Shakespeare-in-the-Park production since its original inception in the early 1980’s. The impressive cast assembled for this production includes Larry Hartley as Sir John Falstaff, Elizabeth Anderson as Mistress Ford, and Vonda Schuster as Mistress Page. Others in the cast include Mark Anderson, Dan Schuster, Mark Schuster, Zoe Burke, April Karber, Ben Blankley, Dale Jones, Travis Hooper, Robert Ryder, Adrian Kinney, Kirby Anderson, Luke Ebersole, Michael Leonard, and Spencer Schrader.

Shakespeare-in-the-Park will return to the very popular Riverside, Buffalo, and College Hill Parks for this show. The Wichita Park and Recreation Department is kindly sponsoring the Wichita performances. Parks in Andover, Park City, Derby, and Haysville will complete the tour. All shows will begin at 7:00 pm, with an approximate running time of one hour and a half. As always, the play is performed free to all audiences but donations are accepted and appreciated. Those attending are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets and, of course, bug spray.

In the event of inclement weather, there will be a message posted at 6 pm on the WSC line (316-655-2017) alerting if the show has been cancelled for that evening.

Exact park locations and dates are as follows:

June 4th Central Riverside Park, Wichita
June 5th Hap McLean Park, Park City
June 6th Riggs Park, Haysville
June 11th College Hill Park, Wichita
June 12th Buffalo Park, Wichita
June 13th Andover Sports Park, Andover
June 18th College Hill Park, Wichita
June 19th College Hill Park, Wichita
June 20th Hand Park, Derby

For additional information regarding this show or press release, contact Jane Tanner at (316) 617-2642.