It is a commonly known fact among my friends that my first love was the work of William Shakespeare. The poetry of his words has entranced me since I was in the first grade, possibly younger, and was probably among the first things that pushed me toward my theater major in college. What people don’t often know about is the story behind the affection that bordered obsession. Why did I fall in love with Shakespeare’s words? I believe that the first major influence on that matter was the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City.
The first time I ever saw a Shakespeare play performed it was "The Winter's Tale" in the Adams Memorial Theatre. We were seated near the center of the audience and from start to finish I was simply enraptured by the performance. Looking back on it I remember next to nothing about the performance, I was rather young at the time, but I will always remember the great sense of astonishment and awe that washed over me. I was changed from that point on. I did not attend the festival again for eight years, but the damage had been done. I began to read, watch and study Shakespeare with a fervor that was, and is, utterly insatiable.
The next trip my family took to see the plays of the Utah Shakespeare Festival I was going into my freshman year of high school. The plays were "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Richard III." Once again nothing was as moving or as powerful compared to anything I had seen before, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" especially. The play was directed by the festival’s founder Fred Adams in honor of its 50th anniversary, and the show had me rolling in the aisles with laughter. Some choices the actors made have even become regular jokes between my mother and I. That particular trip marked the beginning of the yearly pilgrimage to the festival's grounds.
The next year the Festival began its Complete the Canon Project; between 2012-2023 they will produce all 38 of Shakespeare’s plays. For five years now I have been devouring the work of this company, and constantly longing for summer so that I can take my next trip to Cedar City. I spent the first two of those years taking classes at the festival, honing my skills as an actor while I was still in high school, receiving mentoring from actors working at the festival.
In the last five years I have seen 13 Shakespeare plays at the festival and countless others during that time. As a company they produce some of the most top-notch theater that I have ever seen in my life. They helped to shape my life into what it is today, and as an artist, they have provided me with a number of heroes who I idolize as I follow my path. When I was first taken to see "The Winter's Tale," I am certain that my parents could never have imagined the impact that it would have on my life.
