Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2004

Contact: Eric Gerber
713.743.8189 (office)
713.617.7130(pager)
egerber@uh.edu

For nearly three decades, Houstonians by the thousands have gathered in the sultry summer darkness to enjoy some of the greatest drama the world has ever known.

The Houston Shakespeare Festival, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, launches another season July 30, offering alternating productions of “Macbeth,” the dark tragedy of twisted ambition, and the rollicking romantic comedy “The Taming of the Shrew.” The free shows, featuring both student performers and professional Equity actors, are presented at 8:30 p.m. each evening in Hermann Park’s 1500-seat Miller Outdoor Theatre, the festival’s home since its debut in 1975.

Sidney Berger, director of the University of Houston’s School of Theatre and founder of the Houston Shakespeare Festival, attributes the event’s enduring popularity to the masterful storytelling in these classic plays.

Berger will direct this season’s production of “The Taming of the Shrew” and has given it a provocative new setting, moving the action from Elizabethan Italy to the American Wild West.

Similarly, “Macbeth” has undergone a drastic change of scenery, with director Rob Bundy re-staging the Scottish tale as an ancient Asian tragedy.

But the play’s the thing and no matter what the setting, Shakespeare’s keen observations about human nature continue to ring true some four centuries after he created these works. And the Houston Shakespeare Festival continues to provide our town with a wonderful opportunity to experience them firsthand.

Performances are free to the public, but tickets are required for covered seating. Tickets are available (four per person) on the day of performance at the Miller Box Office between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. and again one hour before performance. All unclaimed seats are released five minutes before curtain. For further information, contact the Miller Theatre Box Office at 713-284-8352.

For more information about the Houston Shakespeare Festival, visit www.class.uh.edu/theatre/Performance/hsf.htm.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.