A Mid-Spring Night's Dream: Citywide Shakespeare festival announced for 2018

Mark your calendars and, while you're at it, tame your shrews, lose the labors of your love, and star-cross your lovers. Two-dozen arts organizations across Seattle will hold a citywide festival celebrating the work of William Shakespeare sometime in spring 2018. The announcement came today via 5th Avenue Theatre.

Seattle Celebrates Shakespeare will be the second Seattle Celebrates festival. In 2010, 19 organizations participated in a celebration of composer Leonard Bernstein, including a staging of the musical adaptation of Voltaire's "Candide" at 5th Avenue as the centerpiece of Seattle Celebrates Bernstein. Then, as it likely will next year, the festival showed off a number of cross-medium works of art designed to feature the strengths of the city's arts organizations.

Details are precisely nil regarding what, exactly, Seattle Celebrates Shakespeare will feature, but details are promised over the coming months. What we do have is a full list of what arts organizations will participate — and more may join in as time goes on, according to 5th spokesperson Bridget Morgan.

Those include ACT, ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery, Book-It Repertory theatre, Centerstage Theatre, Early Music Guild, New Century Theatre Company, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Seattle Children's Theatre, Seattle Opera, Seattle Pro Musica, Seattle Public Theater, Seattle Repertory Jazz orchestra, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Symphony, Showtunes Theatre Company, SIFF, Sound Theatre Company, Spectrum Dance Theatre, Taproot Theatre Company, Theater Schmeater, 5th Avenue Theatre, The Horse in Motion, UW School of Drama and Issaquah's Village Theatre.