Utah Fest Adds Movies to Its Repertoire

People are used to seeing a variety of plays at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, but starting Thursday through March 31, the theater troupe also will be showing films.

Six movie adaptations of the Bard's work will play on Thursdays at Southern Utah University's Sharwan Smith Student Center Theater at 350 W. Center Street in Cedar City, Utah. Admission is free.

Fest official Charles Metten noted that film can "provide opportunities to explore new interpretations, bolder treatments, and experimental methods of storytelling."

Each showing will feature question-and-answer sessions with Shakespeare experts. Three of the featured films ("Richard III," "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Romeo and Juliet") are set to be performed live as part of the fest's summer season.

Here's the schedule:

Feb. 24: the 1956 version of "Richard III" starring Laurence Olivier. Festival education director Michael Bahr will host.

March 3: the 1953 version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," directed by Max Reinhardt, starring Mickey Rooney and Olivia de Havilland, with festival founder Fred Adams hosting.

March 10: the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli version of "Romeo and Juliet" staring Olivia Hussey. The fest's co-artistic director David Ivers will host.

March 17: the 1990 Franco Zeffirelli "Hamlet," starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, with the fest's co-artistic director Brian Vaughn hosting.

March 24: the 1948 Orson Wells "Macbeth," starring Wells, with Utah Valley University professor Chris Clark hosting. (Clark directed the well-received touring version of "Macbeth" that recently played the College of Southern Nevada.)

March 31: the 1971 Peter Brook "King Lear," staring Paul Scofield, with SUU theater arts professor Richard Bugg hosting.

(More info: 435-586-7880; bard.org)