LOCAL ARTS 2021 Cowichan Valley Shakespeare Festival

THE GLENORA STORE & CAFE IS A LOCAL CORNERSTORE WITH A TWIST! Stocked with basic groceries and produce.

The cafe offers fresh baked goods, hot lunch specials, drinks, and snacks. We also sell hand-woven products, beeswax candles, and prepared herbs from Glenora Farm Outdoor heated seating 5090 Indian Road (corner of Glenora Rd & Indian Rd)

250-746-5313 I www.glenorafarm.org

The Shawnigan Players are excited to host our 10th annual Cowichan Valley Shakespeare Festival! It’s hard to believe that a full decade has passed since our first festival performance (Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice), and that since that time, our community group has gathered to give you ten of the Bard’s iconic stories, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and The Tempest. Following last summer’s “pandemic preview,” director Alex Gallacher has brought the company together once more to present the complete version of the moving and magical romance, The Winter’s Tale. When King Leontes of Sicily suspects his wife Hermione of infidelity, he sets in motion a disastrous chain of events with devastating consequences. Can time really heal all wounds, or will it take a miracle? Impassioned royalty, fiery noblewomen, clownish countryfolk, a sly pickpocket, and a secret princess are among the characters you’ll meet in this entrancing fable, which also features perhaps the most famous stage direction in English drama: “Exit, pursued by a bear.” The Winter’s Tale is an extraordinary tale of love

and loss, redemption and grace that will transport you between realms and across time, and perhaps even offer a glimpse beyond this mortal world… The 2021 Shakespeare Festival will be held at our new venue at 3515 Watson Ave. in Cobble Hill. Against the backdrop of the beautiful forest behind Evergreen Independent 2021 COWICHAN School, we’ll tell you

VALLEY this remarkable story, complete with live SHAKESPEARE music and charming country dancing.

FESTIVAL Look for Shawnigan Players veterans and meet some fresh new faces, with actors from ages 10 to 93 ready to entertain you! While the Shakespeare Festival has become a Cowichan Valley tradition over the past ten years, the Shawnigan Players have been an active company since 1977. Over one hundred plays have been staged under the Players name, and no genre has been off-limits. We are always welcoming new members with new ideas, and many discover that once they find us, they never want to leave. Director Alex Gallacher joined as a new actor in 1986, and this past December, he won the City of Duncan’s Perpetual Arts Award for his contribution to community theatre. But, as he would say, theatre is a team sport – no one role is more important than another. The 2021 Cowichan Valley Shakespeare Festival runs August 5th – 15th, with performances at 7:30pm Thursday through Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm. Tickets are $15 each or $30 for a family group of up to five. Find them at Ten Old Books, Mason’s Store, or online at Eventbrite.ca. Enjoy the Festival! Written by Laura Faulkner