Virginia Stage Company Presents: Shakespeare's The Tempest

The Virginia Stage Company and Norfolk Festevents will be presenting Shakespeare's The Tempest, in an outdoor theater from July 26-28th, 2013.

Check out http://jakehull.bandcamp.com/ to hear a preview of the music from the show.

You can enter to win FREE tickets for the Sunday night show via the Norfolk Festevents page here. Regular ticket cans be purchased at Ticketmaster.com.

Information from Festevents:

"Shakespeare meets Harry Potter" is how Virginia Stage Company Associate Artistic Director Patrick Mullins begins to describe the upcoming outdoor presentation of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

A cast of larger than life puppets, magic, wizardry, surprises, monsters, fairies, a storm, a shipwreck, original music, comedy, drama, romance, revenge and more will "wash ashore" on the downtown Norfolk, VA waterfront when Norfolk Festevents and Virginia Stage Company (VSC) in partnership with WHRO present Shakespeare's The Tempest, July 26 through July 28, 2013 at Town Point Park.

Mullins will be directing this production of The Tempest, the central attraction of a
"Mid Summer's Fantasy Festival", an annual series of major outdoor theatre productions featuring a different work by Shakespeare each year.

A "Mid Summer's Fantasy Festival" features two hours of family mirth, merriment and Elizabethan fun with a variety of entertainment, children's activities, craft brews, mead, cider and traditional old English treats before each performance of The Tempest.

Large-scale puppetry created by VSC with Donovan Zimmerman, co-founder of the Paperhand Puppet Intervention, and original music composed by Jake Hull will add a twist to this whimsical interpretation of the last play Shakespeare wrote entirely by himself. Hull is scheduled to appear on WHRV FM's "Out of the Box with Paul Shugrue" during the week of July 22nd.

The Tempest concerns a magician, Prospero, and his young daughter, Miranda, who have been living in exile on a remote island. Prospero whips up a healthy dose of magic to seek revenge on those who have wronged him and, in the process, the audience will witness a shipwreck and are introduced to a cast of characters that includes humans, spirits, goddesses and a "poor credulous monster".

Caliban is the "strange fish" not "honoured with human shape" who, in preparation of the production, has been penning a blog, "Letters from Caliban", introducing us to the characters and storyline from his perspective. His blog entries can be read at http://lettersfromcaliban.tumblr.com.

Karen Scherberger, Festevents CEO, commented, " Summer outdoor theatre has been a long standing goal of Festevents and we are delighted to introduce our first production in partnership with Virginia Stage Company. Audiences are sure to enjoy this creative and entertaining presentation of Shakespeare's The Tempest in this unique open-air setting. "

In the event of inclement weather, the show will be moved inside The Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center adjacent to the Nauticus on Waterside Drive in Norfolk.


What: The Tempest and A Mid Summer's Fantasy Festival
Where: Town Point Park, Norfolk
When: July 26-28, 2013
Time: Friday and Saturday: Park opens at 6pm. Showtime: 8:30 pm;
Sunday: Park Opens 4pm. Showtime 4:30 pm.

Ticketing and Seating Options:


Tickets on sale at www.Festevents.org or at the Festevents box office, 120 W. Main Street, Norfolk, VA.

General Admission - open picnic and lawn seating: $10 adults; children 12 and older $5; under 12 free
Gallery Bleacher Seats: $12 adults; children 12 and older $7; under 12 free
Reserved Box Seating: $15 adults; children 12 and older $10; under 12 $3 (includes complimentary beverage at intermission)
Free General Admission between 6pm - 7pm Friday and Saturday and 4pm - 5pm Sunday, (however Gallery and Reserved Box prices still apply). After 7pm, Friday and Saturday, and after 5pm Sunday, admission prices apply.


Pre-Show Merriment:


Friday, July 26 & Saturday, July 27, 6pm-8:30pm; Sunday, July 28, 4pm-6:30pm

- A Fanciful English Morris Dance Circle
- Contests of Fencing, Darts and Life Size Chess
- A Magic Garden of Wizardry and Wonder
- Enchanted Life Size Puppets
- Youth Crafts and Theatre Face Painting
- The Festival Tavern serving traditional pub fare of roasted turkey legs, grilled sausages, meat pies and more
- Plus Virginia Ales, Ciders, Wines and Mead World Music and Storytelling in the Tavern by Troubadour John Durant For more information visit www.Festevents.org or call 757-441-2345.