Get Raphael Parry talking about the annual Shakespeare Festival, and he gets all atwitter, trying to convey its charm to a person who’s never been before.
“It’s kind of a festival atmosphere. People bring blankets, lawn chairs, set up picnic baskets. And, as the sun starts setting, the show starts,” explains Parry, who is artistic director of the summer festival and the organization’s other, year-round projects. “People enjoy a glass of wine. Kids run over to another hillside and play Frisbee, and it doesn’t disrupt anything.
“And there also kind of a magical element to the evening,” he continues. “When the play starts it’s dusk, and by the end of the first act you’re in complete darkness. It’s hard to explain, but there’s some kind of magic to that. I like to think it’s kind of like Shakespeare’s time.”
Parry, a Lake Highlands resident for 16 years, has a right to be excited. While other arts organizations around Dallas have experienced cutbacks or crumpled under economic pressure, the Shakespeare Festival has lived to see another year.
Though he’s only been artistic director for two years, Parry has been involved with the festival off and on since around 1983. He’s served as an actor, stage manager and director. He even drove a bus on tour one year, he admits proudly.
This summer marks the organization’s 32nd year, and it’s one of the longest-running Shakespeare Festivals in the country.
This season, Parry will direct one of three productions, Hamlet. Romeo and Juliet, performed by the organization’s Junior Players, and The Taming of the Shrew are the other two.
Of Romeo and Juliet, Parry says: “It’s the perfect play for 17- and 18-year-olds to be playing. And [director] Matt [Tomlanovich] has contemporized it a bit. It’s got some rap in there, and other things that give a real quality of youthful energy.”
The Taming of the Shrew will be set in a post-Victorian era, and Parry is taking Hamlet “back to a primitive, more medieval time,” he says.
“So whatever you like, we’ve got it for you. From classical to contemporary – I’m certain there’s something for everybody this year,” he says. He adds that those who tend toward intimidation when it comes to Shakespearean language should not be dissuaded from attending a show.
“One of our primary missions is making Shakespeare accessible to everyone. So we get families, couples, older folks and those deep Shakespeare aficionados, who know the plays so well you can see them mouthing all the great lines.
“Overall,” he adds, “it’s just wonderful evening of entertainment, and a surprisingly easy way to entertain a family.”