WINONA, Minn. – The Great River Shakespeare festival opens a 42-day run June 18. The three headline productions have Shakespeare roots but with variations, apologies to the bard. This is the festival’s 18th season. The plays are back indoors at the Winona State University after, thanks to Covid, moving outdoors in 2021.
Wolpe. From Los Angeles.
> “The Taming of the Shrew.” With gender-reversed twist and set in a music-filled saloon in the American West. Los Angeles theater artist Lisa Wolpe debuts as a director at the Winona festival. Among her Shakespeare adaptations have been “Richard II” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” always with an eye on gender, race and sociopolitical power.
Allen. From UT-Austin.
> “The African Company Presents Richard III.” Set in 1821 in the cut-throat New York theater district, 40 years before Lincoln, a black theatrical group does what it needs to do. Directed by Corey Allen, known mostly television series “Mindhunter,” and “Madam Secretary.” In his return to the Winona festival.
Gardiner. From New York.
> “Twelfth Night.” Shakespeare aficionados will recognize the tale of mistaken identity, love, yearning and drunken foolery. Directed by New York-based Beth Gardiner, who has directed “The Tempest,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Servant of Two Masters” at past Winona festivals.
Subscriptions have gone on sale, mostly $94 to $118 for the three-play series: grsf.org