Murderers and ghosts and dead monarchs! Oh, my!听听
The Boulder community will get a chance to experience the sinister side of Shakespeare, thanks to an immersive performance taking place this month at 抖阴旅行射 Boulder鈥檚 Mary Rippon Outdoor Theater.
听is a revenge story set in a world where Shakespeare鈥檚 creepiest characters have sprung from his pages and trapped him in a prison cell while they run amok听on campus.听听
The show, debuting Oct. 7, will run every 20 minutes from 7 to 9 p.m. on 听through Oct. 16. Audiences will tour the perimeter of the theater in small groups, while actors and life-sized puppets come inches from their face.
ShakesFear听incorporates a variety of Shakespearean plotlines into a hair-raising, theatrical experience. Ticket buyers will see Lady Macbeth, the ghost of Hamlet鈥檚 father and Titus Andronicus鈥攁 character best known for baking people into a pie.听
鈥淥nce you start looking at these plays through the lens of a Halloween experience, you realize Shakespeare had a pretty twisted mind,鈥� said Director Kevin Rich, a professor in the Department of Theatre & Dance.听
Rich developed the idea for the show in 2014, while working as a theater professor for Illinois State University and the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. He has written and听co-directed two previous iterations of the show.听
鈥淥riginally, we were just thinking of ways to get students involved in the Illinois Shakespeare Festival,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e had no idea what can of worms we鈥檇 open.鈥澨�
Ghastly, ghostly guests
With funding from the Roe Green Visiting Theatre Artist Program, Rich brought in spectacle experts Andy Park and Jill Hibbard, who have designed and created large-scale puppets for circuses and theater productions across the country.听
鈥淚 told them from the beginning: 鈥榊ou bring the spectacle; I鈥檒l bring the Shakespeare, and we鈥檒l see what happens,鈥欌�� Rich said.听
For 抖阴旅行射 Boulder鈥檚 rendition of ShakesFear,听Park and Hibbard designed hyper-realistic puppets鈥攚ith one standing nearly 12 feet tall. 抖阴旅行射 Boulder students made the puppets and will operate them during the show.
Rich also recruited Heather Kelley, a doctoral student at 抖阴旅行射 Boulder who researches theatrical depictions of the supernatural and haunted theaters in the United States.
Kelley, a co-director of ShakesFear,听brought her research to life this fall.听
鈥淚鈥檝e collected ghost stories about haunted theaters across the U.S.,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I never thought I'd be teaching students how to get out of a coffin correctly.鈥�
Given her expertise, Kelley was in charge of directing the students playing ghosts, witches and devilish creatures.听
鈥淲e want to lean into the haunted house aspect and make this super fun for Halloween, but we also want to provide our students with actor training experience.鈥�
A truly immersive experience
Those familiar with Shakespeare鈥檚 plays will have a lot 鈥淓aster eggs鈥� to look out for. But if you have little-to-no background on the Bard, the show provides a refreshing plotline everyone can follow.
While actors are not permitted to touch audience members, they will certainly break the fourth wall. Patrons will be asked to carry props and engage with the actors throughout the show.听
鈥淲e're seeing such an uptick in immersive experiences in the country鈥檚 professional theater world鈥攕o much so that it feels like our responsibility to provide these opportunities to students,鈥� said Rich. 鈥淭he audience will have agency in this show鈥攖hey aren鈥檛 just passive observers.鈥�
On a scale from one to 10 (10 being comparable to a Stephen King novel), the directors rank the show鈥檚 fear factor at about a seven鈥攁nd recommend the experience for ages 12 and above.听
鈥淲e鈥檙e not trying to scare the pants off people,鈥� Rich said. 鈥淭here won鈥檛 be clowns or chainsaws, but there will definitely be blood.鈥�
Purchase tickets to ShakesFear .听
