Shakespeare Festival names 2027 Anes Studio directors as it finishes its canon
Britannia Howe will direct The Two Noble Kinsmen, the last Shakespeare play the Festival has not staged; Laura Kepley makes her debut with Into the Breeches!
CEDAR CITY - The Utah Shakespeare Festival has named the directors for its two 2027 productions in the Anes Studio Theatre, its 200-seat space, according to a Nov. 2 release. The season concludes the Festival's "Complete the Canon" initiative, which began in 2012.
Longtime Festival artist Britannia Howe will direct The Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, which the release calls the only Shakespeare play the Festival has never produced. Howe wrote the 2026 Greenshow, wrote and directed it six times from 2018 to 2025 and directed Cymbeline, the Festival says. The play "carries a 'live fast, die young' energy that should feel a little dangerous," Howe said. It previews July 21, 2027, and runs through Oct. 2, 2027.
Laura Kepley, artistic director of Cleveland Play House, will make her Festival debut directing George Brant's Into the Breeches!, a comedy about actresses who stage Henry IV and Henry V after their company's men leave for World War II. The Festival says Cleveland Play House earned a Regional Theatre Tony Award during her tenure. The play "celebrates the power of teamwork and community," Kepley said. It previews July 22, 2027, and runs through Oct. 1, 2027.