Shakespeare Festival opens ‘Complete Works,’ alters COVID rules. Here’s what to know.
The Idaho Shakespeare Festival brings back what truly is an all-time audience favorite for September.
“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)“ opens on Saturday in the festival’s Boise outdoor amphitheater for the month of September. This might be the one show the festival has produced the most in its 44-year history, but that’s for good reason. It’s hilarious!
Three actors — Lynn Robert Berg, Jeffrey C. Hawkins and Mark Anthony Taylor — take on Shakespeare’s entire canon in this clever deconstruction of The Bard’s plays. It highlights his best-known — lingering on the ones that make for the best comedy, which ironically happen to be the tragedies. Your favorite comedies are treated to an extreme mashup, and under Producing Artistic Director Charlie Fee’s direction, there is plenty of room for the actors to play with local references and popular culture.
As a testament to this show’s popularity as a fan fave, this is the seventh time it’s been brought back — and tickets are already on a waiting-list basis, and the festival is tightening its COVID protocols for the remainder of the season.
And now after a successful reentry into live performances for this comeback season, the festival is implementing stricter precautions around COVID-19.
With a fully vaccinated company from box office to actors to artistic team, the festival has done all it can to keep COVID at bay and the audience and actors safe. Now, it asks patrons to help increase safety for the last few weeks of the season.
- COVID protocols: Because of the increase in COVID-19 cases in Idaho, and the surge of the more contagious delta variant, the festival is now requiring masks in the site when social distancing of at least 6 feet is not achievable, and they are now mandatory in the amphitheater during the performance. Staff and volunteers all will be wearing masks.
- Vaccinations: The festival is asking that only fully vaccinated people or those with a recent negative coronavirus test attend.
- Kids: Children 12 and younger are welcome, but they must be masked.
- Food: No food will be allowed inside the amphitheater. You are welcome to dine on the patio or picnic throughout the site in socially distant groups. You may bring liquids inside to stay hydrated. But masks must be worn when not taking a drink.
To join a waiting list: If you don’t already have tickets, call the box office at 208-336-9221 and you’ll be added to two wait-list dates. If availability comes up, someone from the box office will call you as early as possible, but no later than 5 p.m. on the show date. If you don’t get a call on your wait-list date, you can call again the next day and get on a new list.
- Rain check: Remember that if it rains or there is inclement weather before or during a performance, the show may be canceled, but that won’t be decided until show time. If it happens before intermission, audience members will have a chance for a rain check, based on availability. If it’s after intermission, you will not. Also, the festival has its own smoke sensor. If the air quality index in the theater reaches 200 for a substantial period, the show will be called off.
- Time check: Remember that the festival schedule changes in September and shows start a half-hour earlier: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays. See more details below.
If you go
What: Idaho Shakespeare Festival’s “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)“
Where: ISF Amphitheater, 5657 Warm Springs Ave., Boise.
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays (6:30 p.m. mini-concert) and 7 p.m. Sundays (no mini-concert), Sept. 10 (preview), 11 (opening night), 12 (family night), 14-19, 21-26.
Tickets: $40-$56 Fridays-Saturdays, $32-$46 Sundays and Tuesdays-Thursdays. Preview (Sept. 10): $26-$36. Family night (Sept. 12): $14-$46. Any night, $25 students with valid ID. 208-336-9221, idahoshakespeare.org.
This story was originally published September 10, 2021 at 1:07 PM.
