King Richard III, June 15 - July 3, 2010 - Your donation today, helps FREE WILL tomorrow.

Fall and Spring Weekend Classes Enrolling Now!

NEW workshops for adults and youth


New this year!  The Festival will offer a series of single day Saturday workshops exploring improvisation, stage combat, audition techniques and costuming -- each with a connection to Shakespeare's works. 
      The Sunday Shakespeare Conservatory classes will be running throughout the fall and spring and Team Shakespeare will begin the 2010-2011 series of classes and rehearsals for their Spring 2011 public performance. 
      Workshops for youth ages 5 - 18 and adults are available.  Sign up today!  Click here to see the full roster and register.



King Richard III - 2010 Season

Our glorious summer has come to a close

Act I, sc. 1 Bruce Roach as King Richard III
The Festival's production of King Richard III concluded on July 3.  We enjoyed a glorious season and incredible response from our audience!  Thank you all for coming out to be part of our FREE Festival and for your contributions which helped to make our season a success!  If you enjoyed the production and would like to donate online to help keep the Festival FREE please click here.  We'd like to keep in touch with you about upcoming Festival news and events.  Please provide  your e-mail address (above right on this page) and click "Keep Me Informed" to be included in our e-mail updates.



An Audience Member's Perspective

King Richard III

The Festival is grateful to our loyal audience for your nightly appreciation throughout the run of King Richard III.  We want to share this Letter to the Editor that was printed in the July 9th Kansas City Star.  Thanks to Wendy, who wrote this letter, and who came to the Festival with her granddaughter this year for the first time.  Thank you to ALL OF YOU who joined us in the park  for your incredible support! 

Shakespeare endures

My granddaughter and I attended the June 27 performance of Richard III at Southmoreland Park
not knowing what to expect because we’ve never been before. I always thought of Shakespeare
as being so hard to read and understand, but watching and listening to the play was so
rewarding.  The actors were wonderful and so believable. They transported us back in time
making us enjoy understanding the history that surrounds the story. We think Bruce Roach
was great in the role of the devious King Richard, as was the whole cast.

We especially enjoyed the Duke of York (Whitaker Hoar) and Prince Edward's (Zackary Hoar)
performances, and were amazed at their talent, being so young and professional. The whole
production team made it enjoyable to watch and learn.

Kansas City is so lucky to have the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, and we have
Marilyn Strauss to thank. We are already anticipating next year’s program and encourage
all to contribute to keep the festival going.

Wendy Kiddey
Belton