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While most of us are basically sports junkies and are unaware there is life outside athletics, a nice summer respite from the heat and humidity is taking in a performance at the UCA Shakespeare Theater. This is very good stuff and Willie was no wallflower. If you cannot get into Will, the troupe alo does other plays. I prefer the Shakespeare myself...blood, guts, intrique, sinister characters as well as humor (although sometimes a bit odd). Oh yes, and the price is hard to beat.

http://thecabin.net/entertainment/events/2011-05-04/shakespeare-5th-season-tickets-sale

Tickets for the fifth season of the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre are now on sale.

This summer’s festival will feature four shows to be presented from June 16-July 3.

The festival will open with four performances of As You Like It (June 16, 17, 18, 19) at The Village at Hendrix (the greenspace adjacent to Panera Bread and ZaZa — in front of Village Books). Those tickets are pay-what-you-can.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will open in Reynolds Performance Hall on the University of Central Arkansas campus on June 23, running through Saturday, July 2.

Othello will open June 25 and run through June 30, also at Reynolds.

Tickets for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Othello are $25 for adults, $15 for seniors, students, children and UCA faculty and staff.

The children’s show “The Tortoise and the Hare” will start June 17 and run through July 2 at Reynolds. Those tickets are $10. The festival will conclude with four performances of As You Like It in North Little Rock at the newly-renovated Argenta Community Theatre July 1-3. Tickets for these four performances are $35 for mezzanine seats and $25 for main floor seats.

“Three of the four shows this season are completely family-friendly, with Othello falling in the PG-13 category,” said Dr. Mary Ruth Marotte, executive director of Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre.

“We certainly have something for everyone and encourge people all around Arkansas to come out to support the only professional Shakespeare theatre in Arkansas.

“Our actors this year come from all over the country, and they will be ready to thrill and entertain the audiences during this one-of-a-kind festival.”

All festival tickets can be purchased through www.arkshakes.com; UCA Ticket Central at www.uca.edu/tickets or by calling the Reynolds Box Office at 501-450-3265.

For more information, contact Marotte at (501) 428-4165 or mrmarotte@uca.edu.