‘Zounds, I will speak of it; and let my soul want mercy, if I do not join with them!

And speak on’t I shall. Borrowing some words in true wordsmith fashion, a call to attend! Attend thyselves upon this festival of merriment, this festival of drawn-daggers and teacups (every family has one) and knavery and bloody history and comedy and tragedy and all! Tis true— tis The Frederick Shakespeare Festival upon which I dote and dare speak (and will be waiting for two of the directors to flounce me round the ears for my bastardization of Shakespeare’s tongue, but I say BRING IT!)

And so should you. Bring— yourselves that is— to all three of the main stage productions happening this year of 2026 at the Frederick Shakespeare Festival. In grandiose fashion, true to form, the festival kicked off with a preview last night (Mon 6/29/26) showcasing delectable morsels of what’s in store from all three production companies— Unstrung Harpist, Endangered Species Theatre Company (ESP), and Ardeo Theatre Company. A riveting history, a…non-Shakespearean comedy, and arguably one of Shakespeare’s most produced comedies all await you this festive summer! And at least two of them are indoors with air-conditioning!

The evening’s festivities were exquisite to say the least, showcasing a brief scene between Beatrice (Gillian Shelly) and Benedick (Evan Crump) from Ardeo Theatre Company’s Much Ado About Nothing. That scene in particular was extra impressive as the actors have not yet begun rehearsals for that production as it is the last to open this festival season and Crump is the current director for Unstrung Harpist’s Henry IV Part 1 while Shelly is playing Mistress Quickly in said history. But the feeling of what you can expect is absolutely there. And in earnest, if that’s what they’re giving just from script in hand prior to any true rehearsal? The world at large is going to be in for an epic treat. They’ve got chemistry, they’ve got pluck, and if you can witness all that, unrehearsed in half-a-scene betwixt them seven weeks before they open? You know it’s going to be amazing.

The Importance of Being Earnest (co-directed by Kayla Swain and Christine Mosere as produced by ESP) was the next to hit the stage and much to the audience’s delighted laughter, was exceedingly well-received, especially considering it’s not exactly a Shakespeare. Though Oscar Wild and Earnest have their own cult-following (think Austen and the Janeites) and while there is some overlap with fans of Shakespeare, it was a surprising, and pleasant, choice, for inclusion in this year’s festival. The scene on command featured Eric Jones as the highly vocally affected Reverend Chasuble, discoursing at first with Miss Prism (Kayla Swain) and then a full-blowing integration of Jack (Daniel Summerstay), Cecily (Emma Justine) and finally Algernon (Jackson Peters-Mosere.) The funniest bit about this hilarious little interlude was a coin-toss between the physical grapple-off-fight between Peters-Mosere’s Algernon and Summerstay’s Jack near the end, and the hysterical improvisation by Jones’ Rev. Chasuble when car alarms started blaring all around Sky Stage (an open-air staging venue.) This one promises to be a giddy good-fun comedy, even if it’s not one of the Bard’s own.

The pièce de résistance of the evening’s “opening ceremony” came from Unstrung Harpist’s Henry IV Part 1 (directed by Evan Crump) as they presented not one…not two…not three…but four fabulous snippets of show work that had the audience on a gods-almighty roller coaster experience, that I would happily pay to ride again and again and again. (As they open in just 11 days time from the previe/kick-off it stands to reason that they had the most to show!) There was a dashing and daring sword-fight featuring Pete Sheldon as Prince Hal and Steven Todd Smith as Hotspur, the video for which can be found here. And if ever you had doubts about whether or not you would enjoy one of Shakespeare’s histories? Watch the ~20 second clip of these two banging about with their broadswords and that’ll wipe away the doubt.

There’s also a rather endearing scene between Falstaff (Aaron Angello) and Prince Hal (Pete Sheldon.) The back and forth between them showcased some of the paternal turmoil that the show delves into and really made the audience lean into their respective characters. Halfway if not whole-way to costume, the audience was also treated to what these characters will look like from a visual aesthetic/sartorial selection standpoint in less than two weeks’ time.

And then there was the beautifully brutal scene between Lady Percy (Maureen O’Neal) and Hotspur (Steven Todd Smith) which smolders with intensity, showcases the versatility of Smith’s character and his tempestuously mercurial nature, juxtaposing that in a volatile fashion against the fiery essence of O’Neal’s character. You could watch the two of them and feel your heart shatter, rebuild, shatter again, and stop all in one breath. Their chemistry is intensely heated, earnest as it festers in that moment and the way they conduct their respective tongues over the intensely tenacious language of that scene is purely hellfire and incredibly evocative.

But you won’t remember the sword fight, the touching pseudo-daddy-son-sort moment, or even the scalding embers of the hotbed Percy marriage, no. Because once Falstaff starts singing (music director Jake Urtes on stage strumming his six string) all you’ll remember is that epic chaotically hilarious nonsense. It’s the ace-up-the-sleeve, fireworks-grand-finale, and it was absolutely hilarious and worth it. And a brief video selection (that somehow did not include the insanely awesome flip-fall of talented stunt-man Aaron Angello) of that hilarity can be found here.

Arriving to Sky Stage with ample time prior to the start, I was fortunate enough to mill about between some of the Henry IV folk who were well underway in rehearsing all of their bits and got the chance to pick their brains about some of the finer pieces of the experience— mostly favorite bits of the show and why they want folks to come out and see the show— and have included here their responses:

 

Maureen O’Neal (Lady Percy/Sir Walter Blunt)

{Fav part of the show?} “That’s a difficult question because things are constantly changing! Maybe that is my favorite thing— that it is so constantly changing. It’s humorous, it’s passionate, it’s exciting. There’s sword fights, there’s romance, there’s comedy, there’s music! I think that’s what it is— the journey and how wildly varied it is. You hear “Shakespeare history” and you sort of go “eh. Meh.” But it’s not that at all!”

{Why do you want people to come out and see it?} “Because! Because it’s not your boring Shakespeare history! It’s going to give people a whole new, fresh perspective on Shakespeare. It’s going to give them something they’re not expecting!”

 

Gillian Shelly (Mistress Quickly)

{Fav part of the show?} “Wait. I can’t say sitting backstage, can I? Because after Woolf, I’m really liking that part! But my real favorite part of Henry IV… I love, honestly once again, working opposite Aaron (playing Falstaff, Aaron Angello) because we just came from Who’s Afraid of Virigina Woolf, and now we’re playing Falstaff and Quickly. It’s a completely different dynamic and I love that!”

{Why do you want people to come out and see it?} “I want them to come and see it because hopefully they saw Richard II (2024) a couple years ago, and we are moving on and going along that path in the histories. We want them to go on the journey with us! I want people to take away from this show the thing that I honestly love about it, which is learning more about the history that’s being presented in it. And I love that in our show we had Bill (William Bodie) who played North Umberland in Richard II and Steven (Steven Todd Smith) played Richard in Richard II and now he’s playing Hotspur so getting to see them evolve along that track is wild! I love it!”

 

Aaron Angello (Falstaff)

{Fav part of the show?} “My favorite part of the show is the ‘banish not, Jack, thy Harry’s company.’ That part, when that happens at the end of Act II scene IV.”

{Why do you want people to come out and see it?} “Cause it’s a fantastic show and everyone should see one of Shakespeare’s bests.

 

Rebecca Carroll (Mortimer/Francis)

{Fav part of the show?} “I did my English thesis, undergrad, on fathers and sons in Shakespeare’s history plays. So something about doing this play, putting it on its feet, and seeing more of those connections and more of those dynamics is really special. It’s really fun to just be part of that. I get to be sitting and watching in the scene where Falstaff and Hal are doing the mock king-song debate and it’s really great to see that moment.”

{Why do you want people to come out and see it?} “Because the histories, despite what people may think, are actually super interesting and really dramatic and fun. It’s all of these political allegiances and struggles for power and it’s just fascinating to me. I think that seeing it performed on stage, even if you don’t catch every single word or every single reference is still really fun!”

 

Pete Sheldon (Prince Hal)

{What’s your working experience with Shakespeare?} “I’ve been doing it about ten years now. I started off in college with a local Shakespeare troupe, and college is Virginia Tech. I did Shakespeare in bars, wineries, kept pursuing it and got to masters degrees in Shakespeare and Performance down at Mary Baldwin.”

{What’s your favorite Shakespeare?} “Winter’s Tale. I know. So strange, so controversial. If it’s done well, it’s an amazing show in my opinion.”

{If you could be anyone in Winter’s Tale?} “Autolycus. He gets all the good lines, he gets all the good songs, he’s sort of like the Puck of that show. He’s just going around messing with everyone.”

{What’s your favorite Shakespeare role that you’ve played so far?} “This is it. Prince Hal.”

{Where are you meeting Hal? Where are Pete and Hal coming together, where are they finding some differences?} “It’s sort of a harkening back to when I was a little bit younger, facing that 20-something uncertainty, and kind of being lost in that and finally having to make a decision. It’s kind of fun to revisit that now that I’ve gotten over that part of my life.”

{What has being a part of this production taught you about yourself as a performer, as an actor, as a human?} “It’s kind of been a fun reflection of how far I’ve come, just doing Shakespeare for so long and then becoming so acquainted with the text. But also it’s just been refreshing, actually. Everyone has been so lovely and wonderful and welcoming since I’ve never worked with anyone here before.”

{Why do you want people to come out and see it?} “You know, when people think history, they think it’s probably going to be boring. But it’s more historical fiction, right? It’s a sensationalized narrative of events involving actual people. That’s something that’s kind of making its resurgence right now with all these period pieces popping up on Netflix. And in addition, there’s sword fights, there’s humor, there’s music, it’s a wonderful balance of comedy, epicness, and drama.

 

Steven Todd Smith (Hotspur)

{What is your favorite part of the show?} “The swordfight! I get to play with a broadsword!”

{Have you ever worked with a broadsword before?} “No. This is my first time on stage, besides maybe a little stage-combat class here or there. This is my first time that I’m actually doing a choreographed fight. I’ve done daggers, I’ve done hand-to-hand, I’ve done axes before, but there’s something that’s special about wielding a large instrument of stage death.”

{And how are you finding your work with the large instrument of stage death?} “I think I’m a natural! It’s a lot of fun. In doing Richard II a couple of years ago, I got to do an awesome fight scene at the end, so to reprise that with another awesome fight scene at the end, is quite fun and exciting. I get to {REDACTED} in the same exact place as I did two years ago, so that’ pretty awesome.”

{What is your working experience with Shakespeare?} “I studied bits and pieces when I was in school for acting, just scenes and such. But I really did not sharpen my Shakespeare sword until the pandemic hit when a whole bunch of friends and I got together and we did virtual Shakespeare, for four years ongoing, and actually it’s still going. So they went through the whole canon multiple times, and that was my Shakespeare education. So really just a few years ago and since then I’ve absolutely loved doing it.”

{Sounds like it sprouted in you! What’s your favorite Shakespeare?} “Funny enough, one of them is Richard II. It was a dream to play Richard II and it came into play at exactly the right moment when I needed it. In terms of comedy, I’m a big fan of Twelfth Night and Cymbeline also holds a very special place in my heart because long ago, I had an infamous one-night open-and-close, which resulted in a freak injury— not to me, to someone else— but I will forever wish that I got to have a full production run of that. It’s also the craziest of all of them. It incorporates everything. Shakespeare was like ‘if I could take all of the comedic bits, identity changes, mistaken identities and put them in one show…’ and he did. He threw it all into Cymbeline.”

{What’s your favorite roles you’ve played in any Shakespeare up to this point?} “Favorite role was definitely King Richard II, a bucket lister, though Don Adriano de Armado from Love’s Labours Lost was a super fun, comedic role that I did virtually.”

{Where are you, Steven, meeting Hotspur, where are Steven and Hotspur coming together, where are they finding some differences?} “Hotspur is a hothead, impulsive, without filter, and explosive— Steven is quieter, more thoughtful, and has greater discipline- connecting with pacifism and peaceful protest. We both have strong senses of honor and justice, though we are vastly different in most other ways and that’s a fun challenge to work into, work through, and give myself over to.”

{We know you’re loving the Hotspur track here, but if you could play any other character in Henry IV, who would you play?} “Oooh. Lady Percy is pretty fiery. Hal is such a fun character too. We should have just done a ‘flip-a-coin’ every night and we would just alternate roles every night.”

{Because that wouldn’t give your poor director a heart-attack…} “But he would be so impressed that we both memorized both of those parts! But, you know, listen, maybe in some time, because I’ve got to work on my true beard, but Falstaff! Falstaff is just so much fun. The play is such a beautiful mix of serious roles and also really comedic roles, it’s a fine selection all the way through.”

{What has being a part of this production taught you about yourself as a performer/actor and as a person?} “As a performer, especially with a production team and majority cast with whom I’ve worked before, I think the comfort and camaraderie of melding easily into a new role and play has shone brightly. Working through big character differences to embrace and live through them fully has been fun and highlighted a malleability that I love to continue to discover in myself. And as a person, well, this has been one of my trickiest production experiences; my dad recently passed away, and I’ve 1.) missed more rehearsals than I would prefer and 2.) had a slower go at memorizing/preparation than I normally would. Since everyone knows my work ethic and standards I hold myself to, it’s been very heartwarming and comforting to receive grace with the process. And while frustratingly belated, I have learned to trust myself I knowing I’ll get to where I need to be in time.”

{Why do you want people to come out and see it?} “Oh my gosh because we’re having so much fun! And when the whole crew is having so much fun you know it’s going to be something special. I think, for me, it’s fun to continue the histories, having done the previous one in this. A lot of Shakespeares are maybe straight-comedic, maybe straight-dramatic, but this has a variety of everything. People can get lots of laughs, they can get really emotional scenes, and a ton of cool fights in there. I think that’s the best portrayal of what people want to see with Shakespeare.”

If hearing from the cast of Henry IV Part I doesn’t give you ample reason to want to attend the first of three…I’ll again refer you to the sword-fight video and the singing-dancing-Falstaff shenanigans. A company of Frederick’s hardest working actors, in Shakespeare’s almighty world— and 90% of those Henry IV actors will be transferring over to the Much Ado cast come August. There’s even one actor— Eric Jones— who can be found in all three main-stage performances this summer!

Do not wait to book your tickets; particularly those indoors as seating at The Black Box is very limited; this year’s festival is full of fun and fascination and experience and excitement! You won’t want to miss it!

Frederick Shakespeare Festival 2026 consists of three different main-stage productions:

Henry IV Part 1 plays July 10^th through July 18^th 2026, produced by Unstrung Harpist and plays indoors at the Black Box Theatre of Tatem Arts Center at Hood College— 410 Hood College Drive in Frederick, MD. All performances are Pay-What-You-Can and tickets are available at the door or in advance online. Seating is LIMITED and WILL SELL OUT so booking early is highly recommended!

The Importance of Being Earnest plays July 24^th through August 13^th 2026, produced by Endangered Species Theatre Company, at both New Spire Arts— 15 W. Patrick Street in downtown Frederick, MD and at Hidden Hills Farm & Vineyard— 7550 Green Valley Road in Frederick, MD. Please note, the performances at New Spire Arts are INDOORS and the performances at Hidden Hills are OUTDOORS. Tickets must be purchased in advance; all tickets are pay-what-you-can and more information on which performances are happening where can be found through their ticketing site here.

Much Ado About Nothing plays August 21^st through August 29^th 2029, produced by Ardeo Theatre Company, and plays outdoors at the Hodson Outdoor Amphitheatre at Hood College— 601 Blazer Trail in Frederick, MD ; all performances are pay-what-you-can and can be purchased upon arrival or in advance online. It is strongly suggested to book in advance as in the event of a weather-related incident, performances are moved into the Black Box Theatre at Tatem Arts Center where seating is LIMITED and priority on such performances where the event is moved indoors will be given to those who have booked tickets in advance.