The Shakespeare Festival, St. Louis, Missouri

For one month each spring, right around sunset, a stage formed at the bottom of Forest Park’s temporary, bowl-shaped theater fills with elaborately dressed characters, and the noise of the feature production of the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis washes over the crowd. 

St. Louis resident Brett Wilhelm said he saw the majestic trees of Forest Park blend into “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” six years ago and hasn’t missed a production since.

“I used to go see Shakespeare a lot back when I was in high school and college, so I’ve been to a lot of different productions,” Wilhelm said. “What they do here is on par with what I’ve seen elsewhere, if not better.”

The show appeals not only to adult audiences but to children as well. Wilhelm said his six-year-old son has accompanied him to every production and was fascinated by the shipwreck built into the stage for “The Tempest.”

“It’s really family-oriented,” Wilhelm said.

“We had almost 54,000 people come last year to the Shakespeare Festival,” Spirt said. “And it’s every age, every demographic.”

Spirt said the festival was incorporated in 1997. About 33,000 people showed up to the pioneer performance of “Romeo and Juliet” in 2001, and the festival has expanded. Productions now run for a month each spring, free of charge, and the 2008 performance of “King Richard III” will be presented every night except Tuesday from May 21 to June 15.

“There are more than 120 [Shakespeare Festivals] around the country,” Spirt said. “Very few of them are free, only maybe 12 or 13, so that is somewhat unique [about] us.”

The productions are hosted at Forest Park, and although the main show does not begin until 8 p.m., Spirt said people carry in their blankets and picnic baskets to stake out a spot at 3 or 4 p.m. To entertain the early birds, Spirt said the festival now includes a Green Show that starts at 6:30 p.m. This show includes different performances on different nights, some of which include jugglers, Renaissance dancers, musicians, the St. Louis Ballet and ensembles from the St. Louis Symphony. Included in the Green Show is a shortened, 20-minute version of the main production taken from the festival’s education tour.

“We believe that live theater changes lives, and we believe that Shakespeare in particular helps with literacy, and it levels the educational playing field,” Spirt said of the education tour.

Spirt said the festival normally alternates between tragedies and comedies from year to year but that it is difficult to tell which type of play draws a larger audience.
“Because it’s such a happening and such a community event, it more depends on the amount of rain we get than the choice of play,” she said. “People are coming out because it is festive, it is free and it is high-quality theater.”
The responsibility of choosing the specifics of each year’s production lies in the hands of Dawn McAndrews, the artistic director for the festival. McAndrews describes herself as being the caretaker for the artistic vision, and she also searches for ways to expand the festival’s mission.

“I don’t want to pick a play just because I want to do it,” McAndrews said. “… I want to pick a play that has something to say to a modern audience right now. I have 38 plays from which to choose to really engage our audience.”

Once she chooses a play, McAndrews said she then begins having conversations with different directors to find out how they interpret the play. The next step is to assemble a design team, then hold auditions for roles, which go to a combination of local and national actors.

“Because [we] only do one play a year, it’s a lot easier to really pull together the best team possible,” McAndrews said.

St. Louis area actors like Jerry Vogel consider it a gift to perform in front of an audience of about 5,000 people each night. Vogel said he began hearing rumors nine or 10 years ago that a Shakespeare festival similar to those in other cities might be coming to St. Louis.

“The first year it was ‘Romeo and Juliet,’” he said. “There wasn’t an actor in St. Louis that didn’t know about it and didn’t want to audition for it.”

Vogel said he has held a role in seven of the eight productions so far, and he has been with the show as it has grown and changed.

The most amazing thing is how it has grown in popularity — mostly by word of mouth — to the point where people are starting to associate the festival with the end of spring, Vogel said.

Throughout the years, Vogel said he also has been amazed by the different kinds of audiences he has seen and by how many families attend the shows. He said many audiences come to the festival without ever having experienced Shakespeare before, and it is not uncommon for others to ride by the park on their bikes, get hooked on the show and stay until the end.

“I have visions of being near the end of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and seeing kid after kid after kid … sitting on blankets with their families just laughing and having the best time,” Vogel said.