by Timothy Rutt
The California Shakspeare Ensemble ends its summer run Sunday at Farnsworth Park Amphitheater with a final performance of "Shakespeare's LOVERS", starting at 7:30 PM.
The Ensemble is a collection of talented, attractive young working actors who love the Bard and show it in an anthology of some of his best work -- by turns poignant, moving, merry, and unafraid to try hysterically funny and slapstick.
CSE's Brian Elerding writes: "The California Shakespeare Ensemble is digging out the greatest scenes from all of Shakespeare's work and performing them live as part of "Shakespeare's LOVERS." The show is fast-paced and fun, and will even have Shakespearean newbies understanding and enjoying. The show is a series of the ensemble members' favorite love scenes from throughout Shakespeare's catalog; from the popular to the obscure, the comic to the tragic, the epic to the trivial."
Some of Shakespeare's best writing about love rarely sees the light of day: it is buried in lesser-known plays that don't have as much box office draw. We all know Romeo and Juliet, but when was the last time you saw Henry the Sixth Part II, or Two Gentlemen of Verona? Shakespeare's LOVERS takes the best of all worlds.
Admission is $10, but no one will be turned down for lack of funds. Bring a picnic or other refreshment and make an evening of it. Elerding says the ensemble is already planning its next show: "Shakespeare's VILLAINS."
