Nashville, Tennessee – Complex father-daughter relationships. Epic romances. Magical powers. Moral dilemmas. And splashes of comedy. These are some of the commonalities of “The Tempest” and “Pericles,” the two plays chosen for outdoor staging during this year’s Nashville Shakespeare Festival. Now in its 31st year, the professional theater company is retelling the story of “The Tempest’s” Prospero, a sorcerer who uses his magic to control people but ultimately learns to control his own desire for vengeance. The festival’s apprentice company is tackling “Pericles,” which is rarely produced today but was considered one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays in the times of Henry IV. It tells the story of Pericles, a clever prince on the run from an incestuous tyrant who encounters hardships that force him to make tough decisions in order to protect his daughter.
The month-long celebration of the Bard aims to make professional Shakespeare productions free and accessible to as many sectors of of Greater Nashville as possible. This year’s staging has relocated from the band shell at Centennial Park to oneCITY, a mixed-use development further west of downtown Nashville, off of Interstate 440.
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