Shakespeare by the Lakes in the Capital

Directors, Lexi Sekuless and Duncan Drive. Photo: Emily Hanna, Esh Photography.

Shakespeare by the Lakes, a local free crowed funded event, will showcase Canberra’s talented thespians in a production of “Much Ado about Nothing” between the 14^th and 17^th of February.

The show will begin at the Tuggeranong town park community stage from the 13^th and 14^th. It will progress to Glebe Park community stage on the 15^th and finish at QEII Park river stage on the 16^th of February in Queanbeyan.

The play, ‘Much ado about Nothing’, is a Shakespearean comedy depicting misunderstanding, love and deception.

The key cast members are; Benedick played by Duncan Driver, Beatrice played by Lexi Sekuless and Claudio by Izzac Beach.

Shakespeare by the Lake is based on Shakespeare in the Park, a long-running event in New York’s Central Park.

Directors Lexi Sekuless and Duncan Driver, and Executive Producer, Taimus Werner-Gibbings, wanted to start a tradition of open-air Shakespearean acting in Canberra, as in other global cities such as New York.

The vision of Shakespeare by the Lakes will use, promote and celebrate the talents of local Canberra artists in all aspects of production and excite contemporary audiences with the timeless themes of great theatre.

“’Shakespeare by the Lakes’ non-profit set-up would not be possible without public and corporate support. The only reason we have been able to present the first season of Shakespeare by the Lakes for free is because we’re getting a lot of help from many people and enough money from a few companies,” said Taimus.

It looks as though Shakespeare by the Lakes will be a great success as they already have 2400 reservations across the four performances so far!

The event organisers have raised over $30,000 to put on the event, with $23,000 in corporate sponsorship and $7000 from crowdfunding.

You can bring your own chair to the performances but they can only be used in designated areas. But be warned, due to etiquette reasons umbrellas cannot be used during performances, so bring a hat or hooded rain jackets and ponchos in case it rains.

The pre-show entertainment is being performed by prominent Canberra based trio Lady Luck and food and drink available for purchase.

It’s great to see our lakes being used for cultural activities that are open to all Canberrans. Let’s hope this is the first of many productions by Shakespeare by the Lakes!

Tickets can be acquired for free at Eventbrite.