Shakespeare Among the Summits

For 35 years, Telluride’s Shakespeare in the Park has brought world-class theater to the mountains

by KATHRYN SPARACINO

"Every year is different, and every year is magical.” That’s how local Amy Levek describes Telluride Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park, a summer festival that will be celebrating its 35th performance in July. Levek is pretty sure she has been to every one of them. “I go because I want to be surprised,” she says.

The Shakespeare in the Park tradition started in Telluride in 1990, but the idea originated in New York City 36 years earlier. Joseph Papp, a New York director and producer, thought Central Park would be a great venue for performances of Shakespeare’s plays, which he believed, like William Shakespeare, should be available to everyone, regardless of class or economic status.

“His plays are a beautiful blend of highbrow and lowbrow, appealing to all audiences,” explains Sasha Cucciniello, the artistic director at Telluride Theatre. “I think every major city has their version of Shakespeare in the Park. The goal was to bring Shakespeare to the people for free. Ours is a ticketed event, but it is very much like bringing Shakespeare to the people.”

Being one of 100 patrons who get the chance to sit on the Town Park Stage in the summer twilight and enjoy the show, is truly memorable.

“It’s unlike anything in the world when you’re up there on that stage where Pearl Jam and Neil Young and Bonnie Raitt have performed. It’s pretty magical. You can’t ask for a better backdrop to any show you do,” James Van Hooser explains. Van Hooser auditioned for his first Shakespeare in the Park performance the day after he moved to town in June 2013. “I think I’ve done 10 of them,” he says, his first being “Twelfth Night.”

Cucciniello agrees that the on-stage setting and surrounding natural environment play a big role in the experience. “It’s a little bit different because our set is the mountains. … We’re not building anything that’s really taking away from it, we’re adding to it with the help of Kelli Fox, our great lighting designer,” says Cucciniello. “We have one of the most beautiful stages in the world.”

One of the reasons Levek keeps going back, year after year, is to see what the hired director does with the plays. “We try to do a nice mixture of the comedies and tragedies. There’s an attempt to kind of modernize it, but retain some of the original flavor. The biggest thing that we do is maintain the language, that’s very important to us,” says Cucciniello.

This year, the actors and director will be recreating “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” a comedy following two devoted friends, Valentine and Proteus.

“We also started a ‘pay what you can’ program, so each show we have a limited number of tickets for people that can’t afford the $40 ticket. I just think that it’s a really cool Telluride tradition. We simply cannot do this without the support of Telluride Parks & Recreation. We’re very grateful to the town to allow us to continue this tradition. Telluride Theatre is a nonprofit, and we function because of the generosity of our donors throughout the year,” adds Cucciniello.

David MacMillan, another regular actor, advises: “We always sell out every show, so get your tickets early!”