The Mississippi Shakespeare Festival is set to commence the annual Shakespeare in the Park event for the fifth year in a row, with the next piece of classic literature set to feature a live performance of King Lear.
Local actors across central Mississippi are set to perform the Shakespearian play at Smith Park in Jackson on the weekend of April 22 and 23.
Director Amile Wilson said that the festival was created after local thespians saw a lack of historical pieces being performed in theatres around the Jackson area.
“There was very limited professional theatre in town,” Wilson explained. “We wanted to carve out something that would be professional, provide opportunities for high-quality performers to work in Jackson, showcase incredible work, and no one was doing the classics.”
Wilson explained that the upcoming play isn’t the first performance the festival has put together within the past few months.
“We are dedicated to both the classics and developing a new generation of classics, so we did a new work earlier this year,” Wilson said.
The festival will be holding two showings of King Lear throughout the weekend, with one performance set for Saturday, April 22 at 5:00 p.m. and another scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 23.
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