Ninth Annual Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival Planned

THOUSAND OAKS, CA –– The ninth annual Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival, co–produced by the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company and California Lutheran University, will present Richard III and The Merry Wives of Windsor on the CLU campus Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, from July 1 through Aug. 7 at 8 p.m.

The 2005 festival season includes performances of Richard III beginning on Friday, July 1, and continuing July 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 22, 23 and 24. The Merry Wives of Windsor performances will be held on July 15, 16, 17, 29, 30, 31, Aug. 5, 6 and 7. The grounds will open at 5:30 p.m. for picnicking and pre–show entertainment with musicians, dancing, juggling and sword–fighting demonstrations.

The dissolute Sir John Falstaff of the Henry IV plays is brought to life in The Merry Wives of Windsor, a robust comedy of love and deception. Falstaff plans to seduce Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, two “merry wives of Windsor,” thereby gaining their husbands’ wealth. The two women perceive the old rogue’s scheming and turn the tables on him. The Merry Wives themselves fall victim to plotting with plans to prevent Mistress Page's daughter Anne from marrying the young man she loves.

Richard III details the plotting of the physically deformed Richard to seize the throne from his brother Edward IV. He causes another brother, Clarence, to be arrested and then murdered. In his mad rise to power, he succeeds in wooing the widow of a prince in the presence of her husband's corpse, has the young heir and his brother murdered in the Tower and removes all who stand in his way, stopping at nothing. This sweeping historical play, filled with battles and set during the bloody War of the Roses, presents one of the most memorable of all Shakespearean characters.

Admission is $10 for adults, free for those under the age of 18. Lawn box seating is available for $65 and $50. For ticket and lawn box purchase information, call (805) 493–3455 or check the website at http://www.kingsmenshakespeare.org. The CLU campus is located at 60 W. Olsen Road in Thousand Oaks. Alcohol is prohibited on the campus.

Since 1997 the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company has brought Shakespearean plays to the community during the Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival in California Lutheran University’s Kingsmen Park. The Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, a professional nonprofit theatre organization, also coordinates apprentice programs for professional and aspiring Shakespearean actors, sponsors Theatre in Education programs in local schools, and organizes summer theatre camps for youth.