Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Time is running out for your chance to see Shakespeare in Delaware Park this summer season. This weekend will conclude the final production on the main stage before the actors prep for next season.
One of the longest-running Shakespeare festivals in the country, now in their 47th season, this free show is available to all park-goers Tuesday to Sunday at 7:15 p.m. in Delaware Park, next to The Terrace restaurant, with this Sunday being the last show of the season at the Saul Elkin Stage, renamed this year to reflect the Founder and Artistic Director of the theatre company.
After a two-year hiatus from the main stage due to the pandemic, Executive Director of Shakespeare in Delaware Park, Lisa Ludwig says it was a wonderful homecoming and the response has been grand.
"It has been amazing. Having two years off from the main stage, we did do tours, we did little tours, but [they] haven't been on the main stage. So it was a little daunting this year to go, what's going to happen? It's like we never left. It was like coming back to home. The audiences are here in full and it's just it's been a really, really beautiful summer. We had two shows this summer, As You Like It was our first show of the season and now A Midsummer Night's Dream goes until August 21th, two crowd pleasers."
The team's touring show, The Bard's In Our Yard has one performance left at Galanti Park in Lackawanna on the 22nd of August.
The amount of time and effort that goes into performing shows like this is an all-year event says Ludwig.
"A lot of people think it just happens overnight in the summer, but our planning goes on all-year long, getting the production teams together, auditions and putting up the stage, a lot of people don't realize that our stage is not up all-year round. We put it up at the beginning of the season, we take it down at the end of the season," said Ludwig.
After the conclusion of the shows, the events and the performances don't stop there.
"After the show closes, we do have different events throughout the year. We're hoping to bring back a popular fundraiser called 'Shakesfear', a walk through the park where people see different scary scenes from Shakespeare. It's perfect for the holiday season," Ludwig says.
Ludwig says they just announced their shows for the upcoming 48th season, the first one being Measure for Measure and the first one being the well-known classic, Romeo and Juliet.
Donations are always appreciated and bring your own seats.
For more information on the shows, visit their website, shakespeareindelawarepark.org.
See the player below to listen to the full interview from the theatre group's Executive Director, Lisa Ludwig: