If you haven’t noticed by the blooming trees and strikingly hot weather we’ve been having over the last week, springtime is in full swing which means summer is right around the corner. And with summer comes one of Louisville’s oldest traditions, Shakespeare in the Park.
Image: Cincinnati Magazine
But you don’t have to wait until the first week of June to enjoy free performances of Shakespearean classics in Central Park. For the third year in a row, the Kentucky Shakespeare theater group is getting things started early once again with its Shakespeare in the Parks Tour.
This year’s springtime tour will make more stops at local parks than ever before to give Louisville’s neighborhoods a chance to get a live sneak preview of “Romeo and Juliet” before it hits Louisville's Central Park this summer.
“This touring production of Romeo and Juliet is really the kick-off to our upcoming summer-long festival for the city of Louisville,” says Kentucky Shakespeare’s Producing Artistic Director, Matt Wallace.
Image: Arts-Louisville.com
“The first year we started with nine parks, last year we served eighteen parks, and this year we are delighted to serve twenty parks and neighborhoods throughout our area with free Shakespeare.”
To find out when Romeo and Juliet is coming to a park near you, check out this list of the upcoming tour dates for Shakespeare in the Parks:
Friday, April 22 at 6pm
Highview Park, 7201 Outer Loop
Rain Space: Central Government Center, 7201 Outer Loop
Sunday, April 24 at 1pm
E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, 3000 Freys Hill Road
Rain Space: Portland Christian School, 8509 Westport Road
Sunday, April 24 at 6pm
Shawnee Park, 4501 West Broadway
Rain Space will be the same
Monday, April 25 at 4pm
Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts – Front Steps, 501 W. Main Street
Rain Space: Kentucky Center Todd Hall
Friday, April 29 at 10am
Russell Lee Park, 3701 Southern Avenue
Rain Space: Southwick Community Center, 3621 Southern Avenue
Friday, April 29 at 7pm
Big Four Station Park, Big Four Bridge, Jeffersonville
Rain Space will be the same
Saturday, April 30 at 6pm
Tyler Park, 1501 Castlewood Avenue
Rain Space will be the same
Sunday, May 1 at 6pm
Sun Valley Park, 6616 Ashby Lane
Rain Space: Sun Valley Community Center, 6505 Bethany Lane
Friday, May 13 at 6:30pm
Veteran's Memorial Park, 10617 Taylorsville Road
Rain Space: Jeffersontown Community Center, 10617 Taylorsville Road
Saturday, May 14 at 6pm
Story Avenue Park, 1519 Story Avenue
Rain Space: Crescent Hill United Methodist Church, 201 S. Peterson Avenue
Sunday, May 15 at 6pm
Petersburg Park, 5008 E. Indian Trail
Rain Space: Newburg Community Center, 4810 Exeter Avenue
And for those who just can’t wait to see “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Winter’s Tale” and “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” at Shakespeare in the Park this summer, you can check out the official schedule here.
Image: Arts-Louisville.com
