What’s On Stage
Knoxville, Tenn.: Come summer nights in downtown Knoxville, there’s much ado about none other than the Bard himself. Now in its 25th year, Shakespeare on the Square brings alfresco performances of two of the playwright’s classics—a comedy and a tragedy—to Market Square. Through August 16, the Tennessee Stage Company presents alternating stagings of The Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth on Thursday through Sunday nights. Bring your own blanket or lawn chair to sit in the free section ($10 suggested donation), or reserve a ticket for the VIP seating area ($15 for a spot up front in a cushioned lawn chair). Indoor matinees will take place on August 2 and 9 at Knoxville’s Scruffy City Hall ($10).
Henderson County, N.C.: North Carolina’s official state theater since 1961, Flat Rock Playhouse brings music, comedy, and drama to Henderson County from March through December. Through August 16, the Flat Rock mainstage presents Gypsy, the classic 1959 musical all about show business with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Next up is Fly (September 10–27), which tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen. And from August 20 through September 6, the Playhouse Downtown in Hendersonville stages Crimes of the Heart, a Pulitzer Prize–winning tale of family dysfunction. Meanwhile, the Hendersonville Little Theatre offers up the ultimate sacrifice—The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s play about the Salem Witch Trials of the 1600s. The dramatic Tony Award winner will run select nights August 21 through September 6.
Abingdon, Va.: Founded in 1933 with the bold proposition to trade “ham for Hamlet”—in other words, to pay admission with vegetables and other food—the Barter Theater in southwest Virginia still offers a feast for stage goers. The historic theater’s late summer lineup ranges from Spit Like a Big Girl (August 12–16), the autobiographical one-woman show of Boone native Clarinda Ross, to The Blind Man’s Tale (August 12–23), a worship musical based on the Biblical story of Jesus healing a blind man. Plus: The Doyle and Debbie Show (September 22–November 14) spoofs country music in a rollicking comedy featuring such songs as “Stock Car Love” and “Barefoot and Pregnant.”