The Sacramento Shakespeare Festival’s 2011 season begins today at William Land Park’s William A. Carroll Amphitheatre, and runs through the entire month of July. Dates of the two plays—The Taming of the Shrew and As You Like It—alternate, but all performances begin at 8 p.m.
The Taming of the Shrew plays on July 1, 2, 10, 15, 17, 22, 28 and 30.
As You Like It plays on July 8, 9, 14, 16, 21, 24, 29 and 31.
Ticket prices range from free (for children ages 6 to 12) to $18, and can be purchased online, at the door, or at Kline Music at 2200 Sutterville Road.
And just in case you don’t know what the premise of each play is, The Taming of the Shrew is about the courtship between a young man named Petruchio who, as the title suggests, tames a young woman named Katherina. Initially Katherina is unwilling and stubborn, but Petruchio “tames” her; he softens her with his persistence and through psychological wit. And the reason this begins in the first place is that Katherina’s more polite and attractive sister Bianca, who has many suitors, is not allowed to marry until after her sister marries. Have you seen “10 Things I Hate About You”? That’s a modern-day rendition of the classic.
As You Like It is about the heroine, Rosalind, who disguises herself as a man and flees persecution in her uncle’s court. She, along with her cousin and the court jester, end up in the Forest of Arden, where Rosalind’s father (the former duke) and his friends live in exile. Here, Rosalind eventually finds love, and the exiled duke ends up ruling the kingdom once again.
