REED PARK A nice romantic ambiance under the night sky, taking in a dramatic theatrical scene unfolding atop a concrete tennis court — it’s just how William Shakespeare might’ve envisioned modern retellings of his plays.
Especially if The Bard had taken up digs on the Westside.
Three stories by the renowned English playwright — “Richard III,” “The Taming of the Shrew” and “Twelfth Night” — will be reenacted by a cast of professional and amateur actors in the fourth annual Summer Shakespeare Season.
Beginning tonight with “Richard III,” performances will be staged at Reed Memorial Park over the next three weeks. “Richard III” and “The Taming of the Shrew” will go on at the Miles Playhouse, while “Twelfth Night” will unfold outdoors on the Wilmont park’s Tennis Court #1.
“Doing Shakespeare on a tennis court is always exciting for me because that’s how some of his plays were originally performed when they were performed for the royalty,” said Artistic Director and Shakespeare Santa Monica founder John Farmanesh-Bocca. “To perform on a tennis court is to keep with tradition.”
A local theatrical performance company, Shakespeare Santa Monica was launched in 2004 by Farmanesh-Bocca, a directing fellow at the Juilliard School who wanted to offer Shakespeare plays in Santa Monica, something he felt was lacking in the city’s cultural environment.
This year’s summer theatrical season features a variety of interpretations of some of Shakespeare’s most celebrated plays “Richard III” will be stripped down to its bare bones, “The Taming of the Shrew” will feature an all-female cast and “Twelfth Night” will be performed outdoors.
The performances are somewhere between experimental and straight-forward, according to the director.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 13, 2007. Read the original PDF.