The University of Notre Dame will celebrate Valentine’s Day with the fourth annual SonnetFest — a communitywide public reading of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets as interpreted by members of the Notre Dame and Michiana communities. The event will be streamed live online for the first time this year at www.shakespeare.nd.edu.

“Over the past three years the event has proven to be so popular that we are continuing our annual tradition where faculty, staff, students and members of our community can gather together and bring Shakespeare’s beautiful ruminations on love to life,” according to Scott Jackson, executive director of Shakespeare of Notre Dame. Read More

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On August 20, the Notre Dame Shakespeare’s Young Company held their final performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Main Quad. The Young Company has traveled around Michiana performing the famed play throughout the summer.

To view more photos or purchase prints from this performance, click here. Read More

The Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival production of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” directed by David H. Bell, will be performed Aug. 14 through 26 and features a company of professional actors including NDSF veterans Andy Truschinski in the title role, Elizabeth Ledo as Ophelia and Donald Carrier as Polonius.

“Hamlet” will be presented in the Decio Mainstage Theatre in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. Tickets are on sale now for $12 to $75 with special discounts available for groups of 10 or more. A special family performance is offered at 2 p.m. Aug. 18 (Saturday) with four tickets for only $32. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center ticket office at 574-631-2800 or visit the website. Read More

The Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival opens with performances of ShakeScenes at the University of Notre Dame’s historic Washington Hall at 2 p.m. July 14 and 15 (Saturday and Sunday). During the course of one weekend, more than 100 actors and directors from throughout the Michiana community take to the stage in two different performances, each offering a series of 10-minute scenes taken from the plays of William Shakespeare.

This year’s line-up includes troupes from Robinson Shakespeare Company, The Acting Ensemble Stage Company, St. Matthew’s Cathedral School, South Bend Civic Theatre, Trinity School at Greenlawn, LaSalle Academy and The Player’s Guild at Indiana University South Bend. Read More

Grant Mudge has been named the Ryan Producing Artistic Director of the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival. Mudge succeeds Jay Paul Skelton, who departs after the conclusion of 2012 season of the Festival to pursue a research degree in England. “We chose Grant after an extensive national search,” says Peter Holland, associate dean for the arts in the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame. “His success in building the Richmond Shakespeare Festival shows that he has the track-record and the talent to help us take the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival forward to an ever more exciting future. Read More

The 2012 Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival (NDSF) will run July 14 through August 26, highlighted by the Professional Company’s production of Hamlet, directed by David H. Bell. Other performances include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, presented by the Young Company at outdoor spaces throughout the Michiana region; Beyond the Stage, a performance-based lecture series, which will be presented at select venues in July and August; and ShakeScenes, which will open the festival with performances at historic Washington Hall on July 14 and 15. Read More

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with the third annual “SonnetFest” — a community-wide public reading of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets as interpreted by members of the University of Notre Dame and Michiana communities.

“Over the past two years, the event has been so popular that we are continuing an annual tradition where faculty, staff, students and members of our community can gather together to bring Shakespeare’s beautiful ruminations on love to life,” according to Scott Jackson, executive director of Shakespeare at Notre Dame. Read More

Actors From The London Stage, a self-directed ensemble of five professional British actors, will present Shakespeare’s comedy of gender confusion “Twelfth Night” in historic Washington Hall at the University of Notre Dame Jan. 25 to 27 (Wednesday to Friday) at 7:30 p.m. The performances begin a national tour for this production with stops at Schreiner, Middle Tennessee State, Rice and Vanderbilt Universities.

Admission is $20 for the general public, $18 for Notre Dame faculty and staff and senior citizens, and $12 for students. Tickets may be purchased at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center ticket office, by phone at 574-631-2800, or online at performingarts.nd.edu. Read More

Candace Lebron-Williams, a member of the Robinson Community Learning Center Shakespeare Company, took top honors at the fourth annual Shakespeare at Notre Dame Regional Monologue Competition held Dec. 10 at the Robinson Center.

Lebron-Williams, a senior at John Adams High School, won accolades for her performance of the prologue from
“Henry V.” She now advances to the English Speaking Union of the United States
(ESUUS) State Shakespeare Competition in Indianapolis, to be held in February, and will compete for the opportunity to represent Indiana at the national competition in New York. Read More