The Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival will feature two full-length productions of King Lear and Twelfth Night, on the campus of the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford. To accommodate growing demand, Capital Classics will stage ten rotating performances of each play, running Wednesday through Sunday evenings for four weeks

King Lear - Directed by Sasha Bratt
In one of Shakespeare's most towering tragedies, King Lear finds the aging monarch of Britain dividing his kingdom between his three daughters. After demanding a test of their love, Lear is duped when two his daughters - Goneril and Regan - promise an exaggerated fealty to their father. His youngest and most favored daughter, Cordelia, refuses to join her sisters in their excessive theatrics and finds herself banished and disinherited. After Lear hands his realm to Goneril and Regan and their scheming husbands, he finds himself outcast and descending into madness. Can he reunite with his exiled daughter or will they both succumb to treachery and corruption? See where Succession started! 

Twelfth Night, or What You Will - Directed by Brian Jennings
In this delightful romantic comedy, twins Viola and Sebastian are separated after a shipwreck. Viola falls into the service - and in love with - Duke Orsino, while disguised as his servant, Cesario. Her first task? Wooing Orsino's intended, the Countess Olivia, who finds herself smitten with Cesario. In true Shakespearean fashion, Viola encounters fights, fools, and mistaken identities. Will she reunite with her brother, win the heart of the Duke, or will she end up married to the Countess herself? 

Schedule of Events:

7:30 pm: Twelfth Night with the Elizabethan Consort at 7 p.m. and delicious treats from OneSong Biscotti.