Midsummer Magazine 2007 - Utah Shakespearean Festival

couple of the local ranchers sipping theircoffee and talking about the weather, theprice of hay, or the condition of the livestockmarket. That hasn’t changed overthe years. Genuine cowboys and ranchersare still a basic part of the area’s rich pioneerculture and heritage. Across the aisle,however, things might be very differentfrom what you might expect. You might,for example, see a table with six or sevenpeople seated around it, engaged in an animateddiscussion. They might be speakingGerman, French, or Sheffield English. Thetopic of discussion? Who is Shakespeare’smost complete, utter villain, Iago or RichardIII? Don’t be too surprised if one of theranchers leans over and says, “Iago, handsdown, no contest.” Oh yes, Cedar City is aworld of contrast.Established in the 1850s by Mormonpioneers who referred to the juniper treesthat surround the area as cedars, CedarCity is currently ranked the eleventh fastestgrowing city in the United States, accordingto the visitors guide published by thelocal chamber of commerce. The pure air,mountain retreats, and general, all-aroundcongeniality of the local folks all serve tomake Cedar City a very attractive locale forsettling down. The landscape that greetedthose early settlers, however, provided anoften bitter taste of contrast of a differentkind. First, there was the weather, oftenharsh and unpredictable. Growing crops wasdifficult, to say the least. Then there was thechallenge of mining the rich lodes of ironand coal that laced the western mountains.The logical thing to do in order to havesome relief from the daily grind of survivalseemed to be to build a Social Hall. So, in1862, a building was erected that served asa school, church, and theatre. These hardysettlers were largely European immigrantswho had brought their culture along withthem. Their days were filled with sweat andtoil, but in the evenings there was music,dance, and their beloved Shakespeare.One hundred years after the last performanceof Shakespeare on that SocialHall stage, a young actor and teacher by thename of Fred C. Adams, born and raised inDelta, Utah, moved from New York Cityto Cedar City to take on the job of theatreinstructor at the College of Southern Utah,now Southern Utah University. It seemedto him that the thousands of tourists whocame to see the local national parks mightstay around a bit longer if there were somethingelse to entertain them. Why notorganize a dramatic production or two onthe local college campus? In fact, why notShakespeare?Those early productions by Adams andhis students were well received, but whatAdams had in mind, was a Shakespeareanfestival. Why not? The descendents of thoseearly pioneers were people who loved thetheatre, and especially their Shakespeare.Cedar City continues to grow. TheUtah Summer Games are held here now,and attract hundreds of athletes from allover the country. Southern Utah Universitywas recently ranked among the ten bestin the nation by Consumers Digest for thequality and value of education to be hadthere and provides a variety of activities andevents that help to enrich the community.And what of Fred C Adams’s dream?Now in its forty-fifth season, the UtahShakespearean Festival attracts over 150,000patrons annually to its two beautiful theatres,and its annual budget tops $6 million.The Festival has an extensive educationaloutreach program, taking the magic of livetheatre into small communities that otherwisemight never be able to afford suchcultural riches. What about internationalrecognition? In 2000, the Festival wonthe coveted Tony Award for outstandingregional theatre.Breakin' WindWind DesignsUnique GiftsKitesHome Decor50 West Center StreetCedar City, Utah 84720435-586-8851866-383-8851www.breakinwindonline.comMidsummer Magazine 2007 • 41