Hilo Community Players
Shakespeare in the Park: More Than 40 Years of Tradition
Our History
Hilo Community Players’ Shakespeare in the Park began in 1978 as an idea of Jackie Pualani Johnson. This year marks our 44th year presenting Shakespeare in the Park in Hilo.
In 2014, we added a tradition of youth programming to our festival, affectionately referred to as “kid-shakes.”
This summer we will open both Romeo & Juliet and The Seussification of Romeo & Juliet at Hilo’s Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium Parking Lot! We hope to see you there!
THE MOST EXCELLENT AND LAMENTABLE TRAGEDY OF ROMEO & JULIET, Hilo Community Players’ 44th annual Shakespeare in the Park, opens on July 9 in the parking lot of the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. Shakespeare’s genre-twisting crowd-pleaser — half bawdy romantic comedy, half crushing romantic tragedy– tells a story not of kings or courts but of an entire town, from rich merchants to lovesick teenagers to domestic servants to bored aristocrats, caught in a passionate spiral of love and hate.
Like 2020’s production of OTHELLO, ROMEO & JULIET this year will be presented in compliance with Covid guidelines, as the Players appear on a raised stage before an audience watching from the distanced safety of their cars– even tuning into the show’s sound via a short-range radio transmission. “For our second year at the Civic we wanted to do everything we could to fill that huge space,” said the production’s director, veteran HCP Shakespeare actor Theon Weber. “I don’t think a Shakespeare play exists that’s more widely beloved, and we’re staging it at a scale that can reach every car in the parking lot.” To this end, the actors will be joined onstage by a troupe of dancers choreographed by Paradise Performing Arts Center director Nadia Schlosser. “The play isn’t only a story– it builds a whole miniature town, a miniature world,” Weber said. “Our dancers, melting in and out of character and manipulating the actors around them– they help populate that world, but they also play the forces that are tearing it apart.”
Though the stage may have moved and the sound been amplified, one Shakespeare in the Park tradition remains inviolable– free admission for all. With the County of Hawaii’s invaluable help and despite a second year of pandemic disruption, HCP’s flagship event continues to do what it’s done for over four decades– provide a safe, free, open environment for audiences of all ages to discover the strange and bottomless world of Shakespeare’s work.
The show will run July 9 to 11, 15 to 18, and 22 to 25, beginning each night at 7:30pm. As always, Shakespeare in the Park is completely FREE for our community. Donations are appreciated.
Past Shakespeare in the Park Festivals
1978
A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Directed by Jackie Debus Johnson
1979
The Tempest - Directed by Jackie Debus Johnson
1980
The Taming of the Shrew - Directed by Helie Rock
1981
As You Like It - Directed by Peter Franklin Schickler
1982
Hamlet - Directed by Peter Franklin Schickler
1983
Romeo & Juliet - Directed by Julian Canuso
1984
The Comedy of Errors - Directed by Don Moody
1985
Othello - Directed by John Koch
1986
Twelfth Night - Directed by Peter Charlot
1987
Julius Caesar - Directed by Paul Mark Clark
1988
The Merry Wives of Windsor - Directed by Margaret Harshberger
1989
Antony & Cleopatra - Directed by Pru Sillito
1990
The Merchant of Venice - Directed by Julian Canuso
1991
The Tragedy of Richard II - Directed by Don Moody
1992
King Henry IV-Part 1 - Directed by Paul Mark Clark
1993
King Henry IV-Part 2 - Directed by Beth Kucharczyk
1994
King Henry V - Directed by Robin Hilliard
1995
Two Gentlemen of Verona - Directed by Laura Andres
1996
The Tragedy of Richard III - Directed by Jackie Seaquist
1997
Measure for Measure - Directed by Don Moody
1998
Macbeth - Directed by Jackie Pualani Johnson
1999
The Winter's Tale - Directed by Cathy Punch
2000
Titus Andronicu - Directed by Catherine McPherson & Sharon Furstenworth
2001
King Lear - Directed by Paul Mark Clark
2002
One Uddah Mid'Summah - Directed by Jackie Pualani Johnson
2003
Much Ado About Nothing - Directed by Justina Mattos
2004
Romeo & Juliet - Directed by Cathy Punch
2005
Twelfth Night - Directed by Laura Andres
2006
The Tempest - Directed by Randy Raphael
2007
The Best of the Bard - Multiple Directors
2008
Hamlet - Directed by Laura Andres
2009
The Taming of the Shrew - Directed by Randy Raphael
2010
Love's Labour Lost - Directed by Amy Jackson
2011
The Merchant of Venice - Directed by Catherine McPherson
2012
Richard III - Directed by Jackie Pualani Johnson
2013
As You Like It - Directed by Laura Caswell
2014
Antony & Cleopatra - Directed by Jake McPherson & Dr. Justina T. Mattos
This is Hamlet written by Tim Brownell - Directed by Jackie Pualani Johnson
2015
Measure for Measure - Directed by Rob Hunt
I Hate Shakespeare written by Steph DeFerie - Directed by Alston Albarado
2016
A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Directed by Justine Thompson
Romeo To Go written by Jonathan Rand - Directed by Leah Wilson
2017
The Best of the Bard Too - Multiple Directors
MmmBeth written by Allison Williams - Directed by Mimi Tincher
2018
The Merry Wives of Windsor - Directed by Catherine McPherson-Tampos
Lions In Ilyria written by Robert Kauzlaric - Directed by Alston Albarado
2019
Hamlet - Directed by Catherine Williams
Hamajang Hamlet, written by Jackie Pualani Johnson - Directed by Angie Nakamura
2020
Othello (Shakespeare in the Park...ing Lot) - Directed by Sarah Elliott
Oh, Hello! (Virtual Production) written by Dr. Justina T. Mattos - Directed by Alston Albarado
2021
The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of ROMEO & JULIET - Directed by Theon Weber
2021
The Seussification of Romeo & Juliet - Directed by James Pono O'Connor
