Tickets for Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival go on sale April 8, 2013, kicking off the 24th season of Vancouver’s signature summer theatre festival, which returns to its seaside home in Vanier Park from June 12 to September 14, 2013.
Bard’s 2013 season launches with two productions on the BMO Mainstage. First up is the playful romantic comedy TWELFTH NIGHT, directed by Dennis Garnhum (Artistic Director, Theatre Calgary). Playing in repertory with Twelfth Night is the iconic Shakespearean tragedy, HAMLET, directed by Kim Collier (co-founder, Electric Theatre Company). In the intimate 240-seat Douglas Campbell Studio Stage tent, Vancouver’s John Murphy directs an early-jazz-era version of the dark comedy, MEASURE FOR MEASURE while Vancouver director & dramaturg Rachel Ditor helms Canadian playwright Timothy Findley’s award-winning ELIZABETH REX, playing in repertory with Measure for Measure.
Bard’s 2013 productions showcase three of Shakespeare’s most revered and popular plays, complemented by a Canadian play set in Shakespeare’s era. Twelfth Night brings romance and intrigue, as everyone at Europe’s What You Will Hotel and Spaseems to be falling in love with wrong person. In the great tragedy Hamlet, a troubled young man tries to make sense of a modern-day world where power still corrupts absolutely. Measure For Measure is set in early-1900s New Orleans, and live jazz plays a featured role. In Elizabeth Rex the setting is Elizabethan England, as the great Queen meets up with Shakespeare’s acting company the night before her traitorous lover is due to be executed. Notes Bard Artistic Director Christopher Gaze, “Vancouver audiences have told us they want to see us produce some non-Shakespearean works that complement his world and his themes; Elizabeth Rex fits that description perfectly.”
Run dates and Special Events are as follows:
- Twelfth Night – June 12 to September 14 (BMO Mainstage) • Opening Night June 26, 2013
- Hamlet – June 13 to September 12 (BMO Mainstage) • Opening Night June 29, 2013
- Measure For Measure – July 3 to September 13 (Studio Stage) • Opening Night July 11, 2013
- Elizabeth Rex – July 5 to September 11 (Studio Stage) • Opening Night July 14, 2013
- Bard Explored: Lecture Series – July 15 & 29, August 12 & 19
- Bard Explored: Shakespeare’s Rebel – Book launch and sword fight event – July 22
- Bard-B-Q & Fireworks – Play plus sit-down salmon barbecue & fireworks viewing: July 27 & 31,August 3
- Celebrating Red & White – Wine Tasting following the matinee performances and before the evening shows: August 17
- Viva Verdi! (Opera & Arias) – UBC Opera Ensemble & members of Vancouver Opera Orchestra, hosted by Christopher Gaze: August 26 & September 2.
Bard on the Beach is Western Canada’s largest professional Shakespeare company and its Artistic Director is Christopher Gaze. It presents its annual summer festival in Kitsilano’s Vanier Park, adjacent to Vancouver’s downtown core. The productions are staged in open-ended tents on the waterfront against a stunning backdrop of mountains, sea and sky. Performances run Tuesdays through Sundays. Evening curtain is at 8pm, except Sunday evenings and from September 4 and onward, when curtain time is an hour earlier at 7pm. Matinees are presented on selected weekends and weekdays.
Play ticket prices include all fees & taxes and are $43 (evenings) and $25 to $30 (previews, matinees and long weekend evenings) with a $25 Youth Rate (6-25 years, all performances). Early bird pricing offers a $40 regular adult ticket to May 31. Prices for special events, groups and multi-play ticket package discounts can be found on the Bard website.
All tickets go on sale April 8. Early booking is recommended for best seat selection (all seats are reserved) and because many performances sell out in advance.
The performance schedule and information can be found on the Bard website at www.bardonthebeach.org. For more information and tickets, call 604-739-0559 or (toll free) 1-877-739-0559 or order online through the Bard website.
Image: Mandy J / Flickr
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