Tonight John and I headed downtown for another Market Square event…Shakespeare on the Square! Shakespeare on the Square is an annual production put on by the Tennessee Stage Company. Plays, this year Macbeth and 12th Night, are alternated every other weekend for 4 weekends in late July and early August (Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights). This weekend, our only available time for the play watching, netted us an evening with Macbeth. While not a devotee of Shakespeare, I thoroughly enjoy theater, especially outdoor theater so I eagerly anticipated the evening!
We called ahead for pizza! The Tomato Head (on Market Square) had our 9″ pie, #13 (rosemary chicken, pesto, carmelized onions, olives and goat cheese) ready for take out when we arrived. Not as many people on The Square as we anticipated but a respectable crowd! To the envy of many around us, we unfolded our chairs, flipped open our pizza box and gobbled down our slices.
The actors were very prompt at 7:00 pm (look just in front of the buildings, you can see them making their way to the stage). The lady in the black dress with the floppy pink hat may look like an actor but she was not in this production!
The stage was constructed to resemble the Globe Theater in London. The above photo of the witches was taken during the opening act.
We had a great time at Shakespeare on the Square. Our only complaint is the sound system. The speakers sat on the ground in front of the audience so between the muffled voices of the actors, the breeze blowing across the microphones, locust chirping, birds singing, noise from the outdoor tables at the Tomato Head, not to mention our hearing isn’t as good as it use to be, we missed a lot! But people watching was great and the evening near perfect.
After the play, we headed down to the waterfront for “Friday Night Lights.” This event is new for 2005 and is intended to draw people downtown. We thought it was a bust but will reserve final verdict when we see if it is carried over to 2006.
