A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Orlando at Orlando Shakes 2021

Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF gained approval from the national professional actors union, the Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), for an enchanting production under the stars filled with laughter and romance.

Mary Pope Osborne, author of the award winning Magic Tree House book series, will once again donate one Magic Tree House book to each Orange County Public Schools fourth grade student.

A romantic evening of music and verse, Kiss Me, Shakespeare! A Valentine’s Cabaret will run February 12 – 14, 2021 in Orlando Shakes’ new outdoor performance space, the Darden Courtyard tent, behind the Lowndes Shakespeare Center. Patrons will be seated at socially distanced, cabaret-style tables. Tickets starting at $15 per person are on sale now.

Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF honors Black History Month with two different works featuring African American icons. First up, the theater will produce a Video on Demand performance of Deborah Brevoort’s My Lord, What a Night, filmed onstage in the Goldman Theater.

Steep Theatre will welcome several new members to its ensemble of artists. Laura Alcalá Baker, Debo Balogun, Chris Chmelik, Destini Huston, Omer Abbas Salem, and Joe Schermoly are Steep’s newest Ensemble Members. All six of these artists have played pivotal roles in Steep’s artistic development over the past several years, and the company is honored to have them involved in shaping the organization’s future.

As Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF prepares to enter 2021, the theater is making big changes to the remainder of their 2020-2021 Season. To maintain safety for patrons and artists, all upcoming productions will now be performed either outside or offered virtually.

For the first time since 2006, Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF will make an enthusiastic return to the Walt Disney Amphitheater at Lake Eola with productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (March 31 –  April 11, 2021) and Little Shop of Horrors (May 5 – 23, 2021). Orlando Shakes got its start as a cultural touchstone of the Central Florida arts scene by performing an annual season of Shakespeare at Lake Eola beginning in 1989. To promote new safety measures during  the pandemic, the theater is returning to its original home. 

This deliciously dark and compelling drama, Mark Rector and Mark Brown’s Poe: Deep Into That Darkness Peering, is about one of America’s most haunting poets, Edgar Allan Poe. Produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF, the Video on Demand virtual theater experience runs from October 22 – November 1, 2020.

In response to COVID-19, Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF has reshuffled and updated its upcoming season.

Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF will provide an on demand video of the company’s 2017 production of Showtime With Shakespeare: A Magic Tree House Adventure to all Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) fourth grade students (approx. 15,000 students) with a post-show digital quiz and ‘Magic Tree House Alive! Distance Learning Workshop’ to be assigned to students with built in video homework for assessment.

As school, work and social interactions go online, Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF announces a series of free online classes for adults. From Storytelling for Seniors to Interview skills to Shakespeare technique, these stand alone classes are ideal for adults seeking to broaden skills and develop new ones in the safety of their own homes. Participants will be able to livestream the class with Orlando Shakes professionals via webcam.

As school, work and social interactions go online, this Saturday Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF offers a creative break for kids to experience their performing arts classes for ages 4 through grade 12 online to comply with social distancing and CDC recommendations.

Shakespeare’s epic Fire and Reign series continues with a dynamic production of Henry IV, Part 1, produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF. This production will run in repertory February 19 – March 21, 2020 along with Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, as adapted by Catherine Bush. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

Swashbuckling sword fights and romance lie at the center of this thrilling take on Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers by Catherine Bush, produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF, runs from February 5 – March 22, 2020. This bold production will run in repertory with William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

Becoming Dr. Ruth by Mark St. Germain, produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF, runs from January 8 – February 9, 2020. In this incredible one-woman performance, actress Eileen DeSandre* embodies media personality Dr. Ruth in a tell-all reflection of her extraordinary life. Becoming Dr. Ruth is presented in partnership with the Holocaust Memorial and Resource Center of Central Florida through the generous support of Jim and Valeria Shapiro. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).