Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival will be held this summer in Eau Claire – The Spectator

The second annual Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival will take place held in Eau Claire this summer in the Pablo Center.

The festival takes place in July and includes productions of three Shakespeare plays, the Improbable Fiction New Works Series and a performance by the Merely Players, a group of young artists focusing on the works of Shakespeare.

The young actors will also take part in workshops on acting and writing Shakespeare.

The Improbable Fiction New Works Series takes place on July 24. The series features performances of original plays by playwrights from around the world. The Only players performs around Eau Claire July 2-26.

During the “Main stage season”, productions of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, directed by Kathleen Barth, ‘Twelfth Night’, directed by Arthur Grothe and ‘The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (revised) (re)’, directed by Larisse Campbell, will take place taking place from July 5-28.

Logan Ackerman, a second-year English major with a minor in theater, is one of the two UW-Eau Claire students who will perform at the Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival.

Ackerman will play the roles of Samson and Watchman in “Romeo and Juliet.” He will also take a closer look at Romeo.

“A lot of the people who auditioned are from all over the country, so it’s going to be really exciting to work with a lot of professional actors and people from other universities who are studying theater as students,” Ackerman said.

Ackerman said he submitted an audition tape last January and received a call back toward the beginning of the semester. He will live in Eau Claire this summer while rehearsals begin toward the end of the semester.

“I get to work with a lot of fantastic people. It is a great honor for Eau Claire to host this,” Ackerman said. “I know that at least a few other states are holding their own festivals, so many of the actors involved will be auditioning for several across the country.”

Ackerman said he started acting at a young age and UW-Eau Claire’s rich theater programs were part of what drew him to the school.

As for the cast, Ackerman said there are about 20 actors involved in the festival. He said there are still quite a few, including some professors, who deal with set design and costumes.

“It will be great to work with people I know here, but it will also be a chance to meet and work with people from all over the world who are involved in theater,” Ackerman said.

Ackerman said events like the Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival help younger generations learn to appreciate and enjoy Shakespeare’s works.

Wojahn can be reached at (email protected).