Variety to choose from at festival

Monday, June 18, 2001 | 8:37 a.m.

The 40th Utah Shakespearean Festival will feature three plays by Shakespeare in the open-air Adams Shakespearean Theatre and three productions by modern playwrights staged in the Randall L. Jones Theatre in Cedar City, Utah from Thursday through Sept. 1.

Times

Summer evening curtain times are 8 p.m. Matinee performances begin at 2 p.m. and all times are Mountain daylight-savings time, which is one hour ahead of Southern Nevada's Pacific daylight-savings time.

Plays

"The Tempest" will take the audience to a mysterious island with the magician Prospero and his beautiful daughter, Miranda. This romance promises love, magical spirits and monsters. Many consider this play one of Shakespeare's most beautiful creations. Performed Mondays and Thursdays in the Adams Shakespearean Theatre.

"The Two Gentleman of Verona" is a refreshing comedy filled with love-smitten, confused men, sharp-witted women and a most ill-mannered and likeable canine. Shakespeare set the play in the Italian city of Verona. Performed Wednesdays and Saturdays in the Adams Shakespearean Theatre.

"Julius Caesar" casts a shadow of conspiracy over a drama that can be chilling when placed in the context of today's political and social arena. Literary scholars call this Shakespearean play one of the greatest political dramas in world literature. Performed Tuesdays and Fridays in the Adams Shakespearean Theatre.

"Arsenic and Old Lace" by Joseph Kesselring is one of America's classic comedies. The plot follows the diabolical doings of the Brewster family, including spinster sisters Abby and Martha, who solve the woes of weary travelers with a taste of their "killer" elderberry wine. Performed Tuesdays and Saturdays in the Randall L. Jones Theatre.

"The Pirates of Penzance" by Gilbert and Sullivan will bring a shipload of pirates into contact with a band of bumbling policemen. Performed Wednesdays and Thursdays in the Randall L. Jones Theatre.

"Ah, Wilderness!" is a comedy written by America's only Nobel Prize-winning playwright, Eugene O'Neill. It's the story of a young man stumbling into love and manhood in this look at a simpler, more tranquil time in America. Performed Mondays and Fridays in the Randall L. Jones Theatre.

Tickets

Available through the box office at: (435) 586-7878 or (800) PLAYTIX.

Tickets may also be purchased by visiting the festival's website at bard.org.