MERCED (KMJ) — A celebration of the work of William Shakespeare will be taking place inside Yosemite National Park this weekend.
‘Shakespeare in Yosemite’ is jointly organized by UC Merced and the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.
“You may remember last year was the 100th anniversary of the National Parks system and it was also the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death,” explains Doctor Paul Prescott.
He is one of two jointly directing and producing the free performances, with the California connection being the UC’s Katherine Steele Brokaw.
“She and I had a think about this and thought ‘well maybe a way of marking these two anniversaries would be to combine these two ideas and put Shakespeare in one of the national parks.'”
Organizers chose Yosemite National Park due to how close it is to UC Merced.
“One of the key things about the show we’ve put together is that it puts Shakespeare’s words in dialogue with the words of John Muir”, adds Dr. Prescott. “Of course John Muir was a very key figure in the foundation of the national park system.”
The performance merging the two famous figures is set to place Saturday April 22nd and and Sunday April 23rd.
There are two showings each day: the first is at 2pm in Yosemite’s Lower River Amphitheater; the second is at 5.30pm in the Half Dome Village Amphitheater.
All are free to attend, and getting into Yosemite National Park itself is free this weekend too in celebration of National Park Week.
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
