Shakespeare in the Park
About the 2023 Festival

The doomed imperial romance of Antony & Cleopatra will be the mainstage of the Free Shakespeare in the Park Festival, May 11-14 on the Adderley Amphitheater stage at Cascades Park. Two-time Emmy-nominated actor Kelsey Scott stars in director James Alexander Bond’s production that spans from the political intrigue of the Rome empire to the “immortal longings” of ancient Egypt.
SSC’s junior acting troupe, the Bardlings, will also perform their one-hour version of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy As You Like It on Saturday and Sunday, May 13-14.
2023 Guest Artists

Kelsey Scott (Cleopatra) began her career in the theatre scene of her hometown of Atlanta. Best known for her role as Anne Northup in the Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave and her two-season arc as Wes Gibbins’ mother, Rose, on How to Get Away With Murder, her credits also include: Better Call Saul, Insecure, NCIS, True Detective, and the CW’s Dynasty reboot. She is a 2019 Daytime Emmy nominee for her Guest Star role on Giants. And in 2017, she received a Primetime Emmy Nomination for her leading role on Fear the Walking Dead: Passage. On stage, Kelsey originated the role of Ann Madison in Pearl Cleage’s political romance, What I Learned in Paris. Her theatre resume also showcases her vocalist work, with lead roles in productions of Once On This Island, Little Shop of Horrors, and a touring company of Dreamgirls.

James Alexander Bond (Director) has directed more than 250 productions from New York to England and regionally across America, including over two-thirds of Shakespeare’s canon, numerous musicals and many new works. Among his Shakespeare directing credits are the Pearl Theatre Company in New York, New York Public Libraries, Richmond Shakespeare, Illinois Shakespeare, Virginia Shakespeare Festival, and MaineStage Shakespeare. James holds a BFA from Ithaca College and a MFA in Directing from the University of California at Davis.
COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS
Our auditions for Much Ado About Nothing will follow all CDC guidelines. At this time, masks are required to be worn by all participants during the in-person auditions.
Participants must be free from fever for 48 hours without medication and not exposed to anyone with a fever for 48 hours. They must also not have any flu-like symptoms or be exposed to anyone with flu like symptoms.
Masks may be removed by the auditionee, once in the audition room, assuming all parties are comfortable, as the Director and Stage Manager will be maintaining greater than six feet of distance from the auditionee.
Your cooperation in keeping everyone safe is vital; if you feel sick, please stay home and consider a self-taped or Zoom audition.
RECENT PRODUCTIONS
The Adderley Amphitheatre Stage in Cascades Park has been Tallahassee’s home for Shakespeare in the Park since 2015.
Learn more about our production history: click on a show title to view the production’s digital playbill or click on gallery photos to view them in a larger size.
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
Guest starring Kevin McDonald of The Kids in the Hall, 2022
Photographer: Bob Howard
TWELFTH NIGHT
Guest starring Hal Sparks of Queer as Folk, 2021
Photographer: Bob Howard
Past Productions
Originally formed in 1995, the Southern Shakespeare Festival was reinvigorated after a fifteen-year hiatus in its new home, Cascades Park. In 2020, there was no production in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Learn more about our production history: click on a show title to view the production’s digital playbill or click on gallery photos to view them in a larger size.
MACBETH
Guest starring Marc Singer of Beastmaster, 2019
Photographer: Bob Howard
ROMEO & JULIET
Guest starring Renee O’Connor of Xena: Warrior Princess, 2018
Photographer: Bob O’Lary
AS YOU LIKE IT
Guest starring Terry Wells and Devon Glover AKA The Sonnet Man, 2017
Photographer: Bob Howard
COMEDY OF ERRORS
Starring Melanie Mays, 2016
Photographer: Bob O’Lary
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Guest starring Jef Canter, 2015
Photographer: Bob Howard
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
Character breakdown by James Alexander Bond
Beatrice – Outspoken “pleasant-spirited lady” with a very sharp tongue. She is generous and loving, but mocks others with great word play & banter. She doesn’t want to marry and when she wages a war of wits she takes no prisoners. Think Kate from Shrew, but if she accepted her lot in life and people liked her.
Claudio – Also a soldier & war hero. He is the more traditional “handsome young man/lover.” His arc follows the anticipation of love and achieving it, through loss, grief, and back again. His highs are high and his lows are deep. It is important for this character to access & express emotion honestly.
Hero – The beautiful daughter of Leonato, cousin of Beatrice, and object of Claudio’s love. She is the embodiment of all a young woman should be, as opposed to Beatrice. She goes through all the joy of a storybook romance and all the pain of having it ripped away from her unjustly.
Don Pedro – An important and high-ranking nobleman who led these soldiers in war. He is generous, kind, courteous, and intelligent … if only he were not hasty to believe the worst in people and quick to take revenge.
Leonato – Well-to-do, respectable older nobleman, father to Hero, Uncle of Beatrice who he takes care of, and governor of Messina. Second in social standing only to Don Pedro.
Don John – Illegitimate brother of Don Pedro, AKA “the Bastard.” He is melancholy, sullen, and vindictive. His scheming destroys Hero & Claudio’s relationship. He is the villain, but there are much more interesting ways of playing the villain than just “villain.”
Friar Francis – like Romeo and Juliet’s Friar Laurence, but in a different play. Long-winded, well-meaning, somewhat interfering gentlemen who thinks it is a fine idea to make people believe a young girl is dead.
Margaret – A lower-class serving woman. She is honest but not too bright, does not follow social rules well, and has questionable taste in men. (Her lover is Borachio.)
Borachio – An associate of Don John’s. His name means “Drunkard” in Italian… ‘nuf said.
Conrad – Very devoted to Don John.
Dogberry – The Constable of the Night Watch and every Shakespearian actor’s dream role. Very sincere, takes his job seriously, very middle class, and has an unfortunate misunderstanding of the English language. THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST.
Vergas – Dogberry’s deputy & the chief policeman in Messina.
The rest of the Watch – A goofy bunch. Some can read & write. All sleuth to solve crimes … badly.
Sexton – in charge of examining the men detained by the Watch, and it is his misfortune that the Watch should be commanded by Dogberry
Antonio – Leonato’s elder brother & Beatrice’s father.
Balthasar – a waiting man in Leonato’s Household and A MUSICIAN. He is a flirt and helps plan pranks. He sings the song “Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more” about accepting men’s infidelity as natural.
Boy – Benedick’s not very bright attendant who fetches a book.
Ursula – Hero’s sassy but classy maid.



Select 6-pack includes choice of Eightfive-0 Pale Ale, Mango Wit, La La Land American IPA, and Lager. You will select your 6-pack when you pick up your food
