Utah Shakespearean Festival just a matter of time

Friday, June 23, 2000 | 8:52 a.m.

Play schedules

The Utah Shakespearean Festival runs through Sept. 2 in Cedar City, Utah. The plays and their schedules are:

Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. in the Adams Shakespearean Theatre.

Mondays and Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. in the Adams Theatre and 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays in the Auditorium Theatre.

at 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays in the Adams Shakespearean Theatre.

at 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays and 8:30 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays in the Randall L. Jones Theatre. Special children's performances for those between 3 and 5 years old are at 2 p.m. July 3 and 5 and Aug. 23, and at 8:30 p.m. July 10, Aug. 21 and 28.

at 2 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays and 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays at the Randall L. Jones Theatre.

at 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays and 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Randall L. Jones Theatre.

Call (435) 586-7878 or toll-free 1-800-PLAYTIX (800-752-9849). Tickets not charged to a credit card will be held at the box office for seven days for payment.

E-Mail: Include your credit card number and expiration date to usfboxoffice@suu.edu.

Visit the festival's interactive website at www.bard.org. Ticket orders will be confirmed by e-mail.

It's time to bring the cycle of Shakespeare's plays to a close.

And time plays the ultimate character in a theme that runs through the 39th year of outdoor summer theater in Cedar City, Utah.

Utah Shakespearean Festival Founder Fred Adams said that this season will complete the presentation of Shakespeare's works with "War of the Roses."

"Time is the enemy," Adams said of the British war saga during a brief visit to Las Vegas. A total of 44,000 of the 150,000 playgoers traveled the three hours from Las Vegas along Interstate 15 to the festival last year.

For the 2000 Utah Shakespearean Festival, time hangs heavy in the plays, the culmination of producing in Cedar City the entire 37 works written by Shakespeare.

"Time is the theme for this year's festival," Adams noted.

And what a time the festival has had. Something bad, then something good, happened.

First, disaster was averted on Feb. 15 when a fire broke out in the Adams Memorial Shakespearean Theatre, the outdoor wooden "O," which BBC-TV producers pronounced as the most authentic theater outside of the original Globe in London.

The flames were doused after scorching the control booth overlooking the stage. Investigators found the cause of the fire as a malfunctioning space heater left plugged in. The theater was not in use at the time.

The irony of the Utah fire was not lost on Adams. The original Globe Theatre burned to the ground in 1613 during a performance of "Henry VIII." "I felt for a moment Shakespeare's pain as he stood on the banks of the Thames and saw only ashes where the beautiful Globe Theatre had stood," Adams said.

But the festival staff repaired the damages and the show will go on in time.

Then some good news arrived. National recognition came on May 8 when the festival was notified of a Tony Award it won as America's outstanding regional theater. Adams received the award June 4 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City during a live television broadcast.

Already preparing for the 40th year of the festival -- proving time does not stand still -- Adams said this year's performances will top previous presentations of such favorites as "Merchant of Venice," directed by newcomer Ina Marlowe.

Adams has a special fondness for "Merchant." It was one of three Shakespeare plays (along with "Hamlet" and "The Taming of the Shrew") during the first festival in Utah in 1962.

That first season lasted two weeks and 3,276 patrons paid a total of $2,000 to watch the plays performed on an outdoor platform. The festival now operates year-round with a budget of more than $4 million.

"The War of the Roses" adapts "Henry VI, Parts 1, 2 and 3." This once-in-a-lifetime epic production pits the Lancasters against the Yorks in a royal battle for the crown and the future of England. The play covers the period from 1422 to 1471, from the death of Henry V to the death of Henry VI.

"The Merry Wives of Windsor" brings the character of Falstaff back to the Utah stage. While tradition has it that Queen Elizabeth asked Shakespeare to write a play showing Sir John Falstaff in love, Falstaff doesn't fall for the women; he's broke and needs a way to make a living.

"The Merchant of Venice," "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and "The War of the Roses" will be presented in the Adams Memorial Shakespearean Theatre.

Inside the Randall L. Jones Theatre, Adams has adapted Sir James M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" not for children alone, but "for the child in us all," he said. (During rehearsals Adams has already tried "flying" across the stage.)

Adams came to Las Vegas for a very special purpose, he said.

Before the curtain went up on Thursday, Adams said he had to come to Las Vegas for a special errand. He had his Peter Pan shopping list with him.

"My list is very strange," Adams said. "I have to find fairy dust. What better place than Las Vegas to find fairy dust?"

The adult farce "Noises Off" will allow the audience to go behind the scenes of a British acting troupe. "The Cherry Orchard," written by Anton Chekhov -- called "The Shakespeare of Russia" -- rounds out the summer season.