BETHEL, Ohio — The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company will bring a free outdoor performance of William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” to Burke Park on Sept. 5, part of a regional tour marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The performance begins at 7 p.m. at the park, at 304 S. Ash St., and is free and open to the public with no tickets or RSVP required, according to the village and Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.
This production sets Shakespeare’s comedy in 1776, reimagining the sparring couple Beatrice and Benedick against the backdrop of the American Revolution. Directed by Robert Carlton Stimmel, the show follows two skeptics whose witty war of words masks something far more tender, according to the theater company, and is built around mistaken identities and overheard conversations.
The Bethel stop is one of more than 40 free performances Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is staging across the region this summer as part of its Free Shakespeare in the Park tour, which runs July 14 through Sept. 6 in parks throughout Hamilton, Warren, Butler, Montgomery, Miami and Clermont counties in Ohio, along with counties in Kentucky and Indiana, according to the theater company.
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, based at 1195 Elm St. in downtown Cincinnati, was founded in 1993 as the Fahrenheit Theatre Company by a group of young theater artists with a mission of producing Shakespeare and the classics for modern audiences. In 2014, it became one of the first five theaters in the United States to complete the full Shakespeare canon, staging all 38 of his plays.
Audiences who can’t make it to a park performance can catch the production Aug. 29 from 7 to 8 p.m., when the same cast performs a live radio drama version of “Much Ado About Nothing” on 91.7 WVXU in partnership with Cincinnati Public Radio.
The Sept. 5 show comes as Bethel continues its America 250 programming. The village held an all-day street festival in downtown Bethel and Burke Park on July 10-11 that included a parade, fireworks and historical reenactments, according to the Clermont County Chamber of Commerce.
Attendees are asked to bring a blanket or lawn chair for the outdoor performance, the theater company said.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Village of Bethel and Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.