All three productions are now open at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival [ISF] and ticket sales have already exceeded last season’s box office, including a handful of sold-out performances.
The festival’s full houses are an endorsement festival artistic director Robert Quinlan’s inaugural season. The season was built around celebrating the power of theater, with new productions of two of Shakespeare’s best-known titles—Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream—plus the festival debut of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.
ISF has had good fortune with weather this year, so far avoiding rain delays or cancellations altogether. The outdoor theater will be steamy this week, with heat indexes expected to climb well over 100 degrees. In addition to overhead fans in the theater, audience members may bring cold drinks and hand fans into the venue.
Of the remaining performances, Midsummer and Hamlet include American Sign Language interpretation on July 25 and 31, respectively.
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet run in rotation through Aug. 2 at Ewing Cultural Center, 48 Sunset Road in Bloomington. The annual Bard Bash fundraiser takes place on Aug. 3. Tickets are $31 at illinoisshakes.com.
