19 Sep 2016 AST’s ‘Twelfth Night’ to be presented

As part of Conway’s ArtsFest, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre will present its touring production of Twelfth Night at The Lantern Theatre, 1021 Van Ronkle St., for three performances.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 1-2. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at arkshakes.com.

"Twelfth Night debuted this summer to rave reviews all across the state,” director Chad Bradford said. “And we were thrilled to have been given a grant from the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce and Toad Suck Daze to extend this production into the fall to perform in the high schools in Faulkner County. We thought a fitting end of this show’s run would be a few shows for the public in conjunction with Conway’s ArtsFest. The folks at The Lantern Theater were gracious enough to allow us the space to perform."

The production is a remount of AST’s unique one-hour adaptation of Shakespeare’s hilarious comedy that toured to several venues across the state over the summer. Bradford is again at the helm, and three of the stars of the summer show reprise their roles — Sharon Combs, Jordy Neill and Garrett Houston. New to the production this fall are LaDarius Jamerson, Malcolm Tucker, Daniel DeYoung, Harrison Trigg, Xander Udochi, Emily Wold and Geneva Galloway.

Additionally, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre’s 2017 season will be announced at AST’s annual Fall Membership Party at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, at the Conway home of Dr. Mary Ruth Marotte, executive director of AST. The night’s festivities will include hors d’oeuvres, an art show and sale of local artists’ work in coordination with ArtsFest and a special performance by cast members of AST’s touring production of Twelfth Night.  

Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre is the state’s only professional Shakespeare company and is proud to make its home on the University of Central Arkansas campus. Each summer, AST offers full productions of a range of Shakespeare’s works, as well as other plays and musicals that help fulfill AST’s mission to entertain, engage, and enrich the community.