Shad Willingham and Cynthia Beckert
The Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival will feature Antony and Cleopatra for the first time during its 18th annual season. Shakespeare’s classic historical tragedy will be performed Saturdays and Sundays July 18 – August 3 in scenic Kingsmen Park at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. The festival grounds open at 5:30 pm for picnicking and pre-show entertainment begins at 6:25 pm.
The play focuses on the great love story of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra and the Roman general Marc Antony. The Kingsmen production, under the direction of award-winning director and actor John Slade of Ojai, is set in the fascist world of the 1930s amid the clash of cultures and a treacherous world of shifting alliances.
A Kingsmen festival regular, Slade directed his own adaptation of King Henry IV in 2008 and King Henry V in 2004. Shad Willingham will return to the festival stage as Antony, having previously appeared in Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo and Juliet and Cynthia Beckert will make her Kingsmen debut as Cleopatra. She is has appeared in numerous LA Shakespeare productions and is a member of the all-female Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company. Justin Michael Terry and Elyse Mirto will both return to the festival stage to play Octavius and Octavia.
The Kingsmen Shakespeare Company is the professional theater company of CLU. In addition to producing one of the area’s most popular outdoor theatrical events, it provides apprentice programs, an educational tour program and summer youth theater camps.
Guests should bring low-back lawn chairs or blankets to sit on and dress warmly. Admission is $20 for adults and free for those under 18.For information or advance lawn box reservations, call (805) 493-3014 or visit www.kingsmenshakespeare.org.
Shakespeare in LA 