Shakespeare in the Park
About the Festival
Now celebrating its tenth year, Southern Shakespeare Company’s FREE Shakespeare in the Park Festival invites an annual audience of up to 10,000 over a four-day weekend to enjoy the fun and fanfare as we bring stunning Shakespeare productions to Cascades Park in Tallahassee, Florida.
This event invites well-known celebrities like Emmy award winner Kelsey Scott (12 Years a Slave, The Walking Dead), comedian Kevin McDonald (The Kids in the Hall, Lilo & Stitch), and this year’s guest star, Wil Johnson (The House of the Dragon, Outlander), to perform William Shakespeare’s classics in Florida’s capital city!
This year, we are also thrilled to have Broadway’s Conner Wilson (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) directing our production of Henry IV, Part 1.
Modeled after Joe Papp’s Free Shakespeare in the Park in New York City, this is a family-friendly event, inviting audiences from all around the Southeast and beyond to enjoy food and libations under the stars with Free Shakespeare at Cascades Park.
Join us May 8-11, 2025 for Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 (Thursday – Sunday evenings) and the Bardlings’ presentation of Twelfth Night (Saturday – Sunday afternoons)!
- THEATRE: The Merry Wives of Windsor (RSC), The School for Scandal (RSC), SHED:Exploded View (Royal Exchange Theatre) JITNEY (Old Vic Theatre) Running with Lions (Lyric Hammersmith) Women Beware Women (Sam Wannamaker) Glengarry Glen Ross (UK Tour) Sweat (Donmar Warehouse/Giegud Theatre) Leave Taking (Bush Theatre) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (Old Vic Theatre) King Lear (Royal Exchange Theatre) A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes (Tricycle Theatre) The Great Goat Bubble (Druid Theatre Ireland) The Queen & I (Vaudeville Theatre) Shallowing Dark (Theatre 503) Serious Money (Birmingham Rep) Torn (Arcola Theatre) Wild Turkey (Troxy Bar) Redundant (Royal Court) Othello (Royal Lyceum Edinburgh) Twelfth Night (International Tour) Running Dream (Theatre Royal Stratford East) Fuente Ovejuna (Royal National Theatre) The Bacchae (Shared Experience).
- TELEVISION: Cobra:Rebellion (SKY) House of the Dragon (HBO Max) The Larkins (Of Productions/ITV) Death in Paradise (Red Planet/BBC) Vera (ITV) Hetty Feather (BBC) Carnival Row (Legendary Television) Lewis (ITV) Outlander (Lionsgate/Amazon) The Five (SKY) Moving On (BBC) Emmerdale (ITV) Holby City (BBC) Waterloo Road (BBC) Buried Treasure (ITV) Waking the Dead (BBC) Clocking Off (BBC) Babyfather (BBC) Cracker (ITV) Anna Lee (ITV) The Bill (ITV) Starting Out (BBC) London’s Burning (ITV).
- FILM: Tell No Lies (Tubi Originals) Macbeth (Green Screen Productions) In a Better World (Zentropa) Dead End (Ocean Storm Films) Anuvahood (Revolver) Pimp (Triple S Films) Adulhood (Adulthood Limited) Yes (Adventure Pictures) South West 9 (Fruit Salad Films) Babymother (Film Four) Emotional Backgammon (Epicum Films)
Conner Wilson (Director, Henry IV, Part 1) is a freelance director based out of Brooklyn, New York. He has worked as an Associate Director on Broadway working with John Tiffany and Jack Thorne on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Moises Kaufman and Harvey Fierstein on Torch Song Trilogy. Alongside maintaining the show on Broadway, Conner also built the first Japanese Language production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in Tokyo and additionally the sit down production in San Francisco. He has had the good fortune to work professionally at many theatres across the country including: The Great River Shakespeare Festival, The Austin Shakespeare Festival, Commission Theatre, Muse of Fire, The American Theatre Company, The University of Tennessee, Utah State University East, The Marriott Theatre, Chicago Youth Shakespeare, and many others. He was the Artistic Director of Commission Theatre in Chicago, IL and Assistant to the Artistic Director of the American Theatre Company under P.J. Paparelli. Proud member SDC. You can find pictures of his work at ConnerWilsonDirector.com.