MARQUETTE – Breathtaking natural beauty, unique cultural offerings, a strong sense of community—these are a few of the many reasons people are drawn to the U.P. The newly formed Upper Peninsula Shakespeare Festival hopes to add classical theatre to that list.
“The U.P. is one of the most Shakespearean places I’ve ever been,” says Executive Director, Alastar Dimitrie. “And I don’t mean guys in codpieces. It’s a combination of things—it’s the sweeping drama of the landscape and it’s the humanity of the people that inhabit it.”
Upper Peninsula Shakespeare Festival launches its inaugural season in July with The Tempest at Marquette’s scenic Presque Isle Park, a ruggedly beautiful peninsula jutting out into Lake Superior. It would be difficult to imagine a better setting for Shakespeare’s tale of shipwreck and redemption.
“The world that Shakespeare creates in The Tempest is a place of rage and destruction, but also forgiveness and hope,” says Artistic Director, Jamie Weeder. This duality is reflected in the landscape itself. Lake Superior is at once a powerful force of nature and a life-sustaining resource.
The company chose Marquette as its home because of its central location and strong artistic community.
“It’s important for us to be accessible to the rest of the U.P., and for the rest of the U.P. to be accessible to us,” Dimitrie says.
In addition, Marquette boasts an unusually robust arts scene for a city of its size.
“Theatre is the most collaborative of all art forms,” Weeder says. “In order to flourish, it needs to draw upon many types of creative talent.”
Although there are now more ways than ever before for people to receive entertainment including film, television, and the Internet, the experience of live theatre has never been more relevant.
“It is precisely because of technology and its often isolating effects that the shared experience of attending a play has become so vital,” Dimitrie says.
The Tempest will have performances on Saturday, July 18 at 7:00 P.M., Sunday, July 19 at 2:00 P.M., Saturday, July 25 at 7:00 P.M. and Sunday, July 26 at 2:00 P.M at Presque Isle Bandshell. Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for students, and $8 dollars for seniors and children under twelve. Details and updates may be found at upshakes.org.
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