By Aaron Calvin, Assistant Entertainment Editor
Hofstra University will see the 62nd year of the Shakespeare Festival on March 10th through the 20th. The festival will feature The War of the Roses (a one evening version of the Henry VI trilogy) and a one-hour version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The Shakespeare Festival began with John Cranford Adams, former president of Hofstra University and noted Shakespeare scholar. Originally performed by professional actors, the festival has long since been performed by students of The University.
This year’s festival is unusual in its combination of one of the Bard’s least performed plays (Henry VI trilogy) and one of his most often performed plays (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). The creative talents of two Hofstra University professors formed both plays.
What Fools was created in collaboration between professor Maureen McPheely and director Jean Giebel. The pair recreated the play to be set in high school, an ironic setting since A Midsummer’s Night Dream is one of the most highly performed plays in high schools throughout the United States. The play is being performed by six actors, creating what McPheely calls “a lively, fast-paced rendition, which appears to be easily accessible to audiences.”
Professor Royston Coppenger adapted The War of the Roses. By creating a more contextualized adaptation for modern audiences, Coppenger is attempting to adapt a play that was popular in Shakespeare’s time, but has become more obscure in modern times.
“I’m trying to tell a story to people unfamiliar with the time and the place,” Coppenger said about the difficulties of adapting the plays. “I’m trying to tell the story in a straightforward way. It’s basically a 16th century action film.”
War of the Roses holds a special place in the history of the Shakespeare Festival as not only the first performance of material relating to the Henry VI plays, but it is also one of the first adaptations to be performed.
“It’s very challenging to do an adaptation, you have to pull from the characters that are there for the performance and some characters have to get cut, but it’s been very rewarding,” said actor Christian Titus.
Another challenge in the play came for Allie Rightmier, the actress who plays the male role King Henry VI. “It was hard, there were certain things I had to change,” she said. “Henry starts out young and grows into, I don’t want to call him a girly-man, but he’s a pacifist.” The role certainly shows a change from Shakespeare’s time, when men played all of the female parts.
For specific times, go to Hofstra University’s events page on their website.

This year’s Shakespeare Festival features an adaptation of the rarely-adapted Henry VI plays. (Aaron Calvin/The Chronicle)