News

Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival

June 9th, 2016

Summer is the perfect time to experience live theatrical performances — especially if it’s Shakespeare. The FREE, did we say FREE, Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival looks like it will stack up to be great. Performances will include Richard III and The Tempest.  Richard III depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of King Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified as such. The Tempest is set on a remote island, where the sorcerer Prospero, rightful Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place using illusion and skillful manipulation. He conjures up a storm, the eponymous tempest, to lure his usurping brother Antonio and the complicit King Alonso of Naples to the island. There, his machinations bring about the revelation of Antonio’s lowly nature, the redemption of the King, and the marriage of Miranda to Alonso’s son, Ferdinand. The performance site for both of these plays is at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park.