Shakespeare in the Park

Fun. Come at least an hour early so you can find a seat. This is big fun play. This year Taming of the shrew was smart and fun.
Bring a blanket and a picnic. Best its free

Great fun. Last night, we saw Comedy of Errors.
Shakespeare SF, is dynamic, funny and well prepared.
At the end of the play, someone announces donations are accepted.
I tossed in a couple dollars; hey, I’m in between jobs!
Tip: the bathrooms are behind the seating area.
And a few items like candy bars and soda/​water are sold to the right of the stage– and at non ripoff prices. $ 1 for a can of soda!
Thanks Cupertino!
Our friend had this excellently positioned area, replete with fine snacks.
Get there early to secure your blanket area; you can bring low back, low profile chairs.

I had a sinking feeling when I first sat down on the grass and saw the stage and costumes. Hoop skirts in a Shakespeare play, Pericles even? But as the night went on, it kinda made sense that this 2000 year old historical tale, reinvented by Shakespeare in the 1600s, now «updated» again by the good folks at SF Shakespeare festival and set it in the American south, circa civil war era. The themes of heroism triumphing over jealousy and war, faithfulness despite a long and painful separation and virtue prevailing amid vice is universal enough that it would resonate whatever the setting.
The music was enjoyable, the southern accents came in and out with the stage props, but it was all in good fun. Anything to get people interested in Shakespeare and Ancient Greek culture (yeah, I was a classics major and lover of iambic pentameter). My thanks and appreciation again to the SF Shakespeare festival folks for their generosity in providing us all with free performances every summer.

Considering the show was completely FREE, I didn’t really see any reason to complain. Sure, it was a very strange version of Pericles (which was never one of my favorite Shakespeare plays), complete with hoop skirts and southern (?) accents, but it had some great moments that had us laughing out loud.
Of course, I guess it helped that I was there w/​some good company, good food, and good wine (I’m sure the wines especially helped). It gave me a chance to do the following:
1) Finally get to use the really nice picnic basket we got a over a year and a half ago.
2) Try some really good cheeses, including a greek cheese to fit the theme (I think it was called Manouri, went great w/​honey!)
3) Since it was in Cupertino, it seemed appropriate to drink some of our Cupertino wines (Ridge and Fellom) that we got from the last SCMWA Passport day. The Ridge Ponzo zin is fab!
4) Hang out w/​my hubby, sis, and bro-​in-​law, which is always fun.
5) Get a little bit of culture (don’t get much of it these days, since most of my spare time is spent watching TV)
Probably my only regret is I should have dressed more warmly, since it got COLD towards the end of the evening. Still, it was a great way to spend a Friday night in the summer.

We come to Cupertino every year to see this particular Shakespeare festival loaded with wine, pasta salad, really anything whole foods has to offer. I love the setting, the seats, even the disgusting pond… and usually the performance.
I have to admit we didn’t really understand the choice of «Little House on the Prairie» style pirate show. I even said maybe it’s just reminiscent of vaudeville if not country. But the choice obviously eluded everyone. Perhaps they just had too may musicians and singers whose talent they didn’t want to waste. The woman who played Cleon was terrific.
Well anyway, the night was nice, wine good and the preparation to be appreciated. Maybe next year we can see Richard III set in key west!

Felt like someone was playing a really, really cruel joke on me. I’m a big Shakespeare fan starting from my high school days so was excited to see my first Shakespeare In the Park production since I missed it the last few years. But what I got was this twisted interpretation where Shakespeare’s Pericles meets the Beverly Hillbillies.
Now I appreciate artists who are kind enough to support a free series of Shakespeare in the Park that performs all summer around SF, Cupertino, San Mateo, and Pleasanton. HOWEVER, this year’s interpretation of Pericles was HORRIBLE. Their creative freedom to set a traditional Shakespeare story like Pericles in frontier America with tons of folk, country, and bluegrass tunes mixed in was so distracting and downright annoying. Bluegrass music and western costumes in a Shakespeare play?! I felt like someone was trying to punk the audence for 2 hours of torture and was waiting for someone to finally jump up and say «You’ve been Punk’d» but that never happened. We left at intermission — would have left much earlier but didn’t want to disrupt all the others in front and back of us.
Bottom Line: Shakespeare would roll in his grave if he saw this horrible hillbilly adaptation of Pericles. But Shakespeare in the Park artists — thank you for your passion and work.