Last Saturday afternoon, Stone Soup Shakespeare performed Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing at the CWE's Coffee Cartel, Euclid & Maryland Avenues. The event was part of Shakespeare Festival's 5th annual SHAKE 38, a performance marathon that took place in advance of the Shakespeare Festival in different venues around town.
Two teams of actors read the play for a deeply-engaged audience. Those who were in Coffee Cartel for the usual coffee and wifi carried on at their laptops as though the whole thing was much ado about nothing, which is exactly what made the event so quintessentially urban.
Shakespeare Festival's Antony and Cleopatra, directed by Mike Donahue, opens May 22 through June 14 at Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park (east of the Art Museum). Performances are at 8 p.m. nightly, except Tuesdays. The Green Show begins at 6:30 p.m. This is the 15th season the Shakespeare Festival has brought free Shakespeare to Forest Park…donations are suggested, and well-deserved.