An Evening with William Shakespeare

“O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?”

…not exactly. On Dec. 6, curtains will lift and stage lights dim as graduate students from UF's English department perform “An Evening with William Shakespeare” at the Acrosstown Repertory Theater, 619 S. Main St. From scandals to sonnets, “An Evening with William Shakespeare” will reenact vintage Shakespearean literature from old English to the youthful Western world.

“We will be doing scenes from various plays, as well as the sonnets,” says UF professor Sidney Homan, the director. “Scenes of romantic love, distorted love (the Macbeths), comic love (Pyramus and Thisby from a Midsummer’s Night Dream) and the loveless (Richard III).”

The performance includes 11 graduate students from the English department, who are currently enrolled in a Shakespearean literature course.

“We've been working on it all semester,” Sidney said. “We are expecting an audience where ages range from teenager, high school students to the very old.”

Attendees should be prepared for some daggers, poisoned wine and sword fighting during this one-night-only event. And if one thing is for certain, romance will be in the air.

“One audience member called a past production ‘a Whitman Sampler of Shakespeare,’ so if you don't care for one piece of candy (one scene) there are always other and different ones,” Sidney says.

The performance will begin at 8pm and tickets will be available to purchase for $5 at the door.

-Alisha Kinman