Shakespeare in the Ravine continues next week
Jul. 24—The free "Shakespeare in the Ravine" event hosted by the Appalachian Shakespeare Center at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) returned Thursday evening featuring a live, in-person production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday. The shows will run again July 29 — 31 in the Ravine of EKU's main campus in Richmond, Kentucky. Admission is free to the public and open for all ages to attend.
This production showcases a unique storytelling element: puppetry.
Matthew Johnson, the director of the Appalachian Shakespeare Center and associate professor at EKU, explained, "We wanted to take advantage of the gorgeous expanse of the Ravine by designing Shakespeare's Faerie folk as puppets. So, we spent the spring building hand-and-rod puppets, body puppets, and a few giant puppets. Some are almost 15-feet-tall and controlled by multiple puppeteers."
The Appalachian Shakespeare Center at EKU has been hosting productions of Shakespeare's work for nearly six years. The mission of the organization is to promote agency and citizenship by engaging learners and audiences with the works of William Shakespeare.
"We're looking forward to providing the community with the opportunity to come together and enjoy a fun-filled spectacle the audience won't get to see anywhere else," Johnson said.
