Montford Park Players (MPP) has announced its line-up of free productions for the organization’s 50th season. “This is pretty momentous for any theater,” says marketing director Jeff Catanese, “but when we think of our humble beginnings with a team of eager Shakespeare-lovers on a patch of grass in Montford Park back in 1972, we are overwhelmed that our audiences have grown in such size and our shows just keep getting better and better.”
The season will kick-off on May 6 with As You Like It by Shakespeare, directed by Mandy Bean. This will be followed by The Little Prince directed by Jason Williams; Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Dwight Chiles; and The Three Musketeers, directed by Rodney Smith. The season will close in the fall with Hamlet, directed by Glenna Grant. All productions take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre.
Smith will be directing the adaptation of The Three Musketeers written by Catherine Bush. “She really leaned into the comedic dialogue and raw action set pieces, making this a very fast-paced roller coaster ride of action and laughs, with moments of genuine drama and romance,” Smith says. “We are looking to bring this performance to a cinematic level with high-energy and well-choreographed swordplay, and a large, diverse cast of very colorful characters.”
This production will mark the first time in its history that MPP has produced a full-length play written or based on material by a person of color. “I am honored, as a Black person myself, to be asked to helm this project,” says Smith. “While MPP will always be the home to NC’s longest-running Shakespeare festival, over the last few years they have been expanding programming to include more classic and/or timeless stories outside of The Bard of Avon. This not only makes the theatre more accessible to people who may not gravitate to Shakespeare, it gives opportunity to the wonderful playwrights who have adapted some amazing stories for the stage, including this one.”
For more information, visit MontfordParkPlayers.org.
