Image courtesy of WCPA.
The Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts’ (WCPA) Shakespeare in the Sangres will kickoff starting Friday, June 13 with A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. It will run through Sunday, July 6 with Yo Ho Hum, a new comedy by Marcus Anthony.
Performance at The Jones Theater. Image courtesy of WCPA.
Westcliffe is a rural community of less than 5,000 county residents. But it boasts a robust schedule of cultural and artistic performances presented by a group of non-professional actors.
Visitors from throughout the United States are welcomed for the theater season each year.
Six outdoor shows of A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be held in All Aboard Westcliffe Depot.
Four shows will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, June 13 and June 14, and June 20 and June 21. Sunday matinees will be held at 2:00 p.m. on June 15 and June 22.
In case of rain, the play will be held in the Historic Jones Theater.
Yo Ho Hum will be held at 7:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 27 and June 28. The Sunday matinee will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 29. All showings will be in Westcliffe’s Historic Jones Theater.
Shakespeare masks. Image courtesy of WCPA.
Two additional performances will be held in the Rialto Theater in Florence at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 5, and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 6.
Ticket prices for all shows are $20 for adults, $15 for students and active military, and $5 for kids 12 and under. Tickets are available online, at the WCPA office and at Candy’s Coffee and other local outlets.
Shakespeare performances are included in season tickets. Tickets to single performances are also available.
Ticket information is available at JonesTheater.com or by dialing 719-783-3004.
More about the shows.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s famous comedies.
“After Theseus, Duke of Athens, decrees that young Hermia must marry Demetrius, the man of her father’s choosing, she runs off to the forest with Lysander, the man of her own choosing – with Demetrius and Helena, the girl who loves him, in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, Oberon, the King of the Fairies, is having his own marital difficulties with Titania, his Queen, and all Nature is in upheaval as a result. When Oberon decides that a little magic will solve everybody’s problems, he enlists his servant Puck to take care of it. However, Puck has his own mischievous agenda, which threatens to upend the lives of mortals and immortals alike.”
Yo Ho Hum is a brand-new comedy by Marcus Anthony that debuted at the Minneapolis Fringe festival in 2024. It “tells the story of Stede Bonnet, a respectable 18th century gentleman turned pirate captain, and his hapless first mate, Tristam Shanty, whose dream of becoming a meteorologist is dashed as a result of following Bonnet into a fateful encounter with Blackbeard.” The play is full of action, adventure, laughs, and sea shanties.
The Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts was created in 1992 to maintain the Historic Jones Theater, restored to its original 1930s glamour.