Much ado about fireworks

What’s billed as the only baroque-period arts festival in the United States has added a new Shakespearean twist this year to its proven formula of powdered wigs and Handel’s music – that is, “musick.”

After a brief one-day downsizing last year, the Royal Fireworks Festival and Concert will take audiences back to 1749 England on both Saturday and Sunday at Riverfront Park.

The centerpiece of this free weekend is the Royal Fireworks Concert on Sunday night, just as it has been for the previous 27 years. Event presenter Allegro estimated the crowd last year at 35,000, and this year is predicting 40,000.

That’s because Shakespeare returns on Saturday night in a new and intriguing format: “Shakespeare in Love – Scenes and Sonnets.”

Six actors will deliver three of Shakespeare’s most famous love scenes: the love-hate sparring between Petruccio and Katherine from “Taming of the Shrew”; the meeting between the King and Catherine in “Henry the Fifth”; and the famous balcony scene from “Romeo and Juliet.”

Here’s the intriguing part: They’ll present each scene in three different ways.

One will be the conventional way, as a dialogue between actor and actress.

Another will be entirely nonverbal, with swords. Yes, we mean a love scene with its dynamics expressed entirely through swordplay.

The third will be the way Shakespeare himself saw these scenes played: with male actors playing both the men and the women.

“It’s for the element of surprise, and also because that’s how Shakespeare was originally done,” said Tony Flinn, who narrates the show and who worked with director Niké Imoru in script development.

In Shakespeare’s time, there was no such thing as an actress (acting was considered unseemly). The women’s parts were played by boys pretending to be women.

In this show, the men won’t be in women’s costumes – “we didn’t want to do female impersonation,” Flinn said – they’ll just be doing the scenes together.

“We’re just looking at the honest, direct emotion,” he said. “We’re not even suggesting that it is homosexual. It’s just emotional.”

The results in rehearsal so far have been fascinating, he said.

“There’s no mincing, no discomfort,” said Flinn. “They simply play the feelings.”

The goal, as Imoru conceived the project, is to allow audiences to truly look at Shakespeare’s scenes in depth.

“We wanted to make it startling, fun and, ultimately, to make Shakespeare accessible,” said Flinn.

“Too often, a lot of the language just rushes past people. This is a way to hear it again.”

The actors will wear traditional Elizabethan costumes and perform on an outdoor stage before a simple backdrop.

Imoru, the former Interplayers artistic director, says she believes Spokane is ready for an ongoing “Shakespeare in the Park” series. She already has scheduled an expanded performance of this show on Aug. 23 at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture’s outdoor amphitheater.

Meanwhile, the Shakespearean actors won’t be the only ones in costume this weekend.

The villagers of Riverdell, the fictional English baroque-era town, will roam Riverfront Park both evenings, juggling, singing, doing magic tricks and creating their own impromptu dramas.

King George II also will show up to preside over events.

The king certainly will be present for the Royal Fireworks Concert, on the park’s floating stage. Allegro’s Royal Band will play 17th- and 18th-century wind band music, plus “Zapfenstreich,” a military tattoo by Beethoven, and “Golden Spinning Wheel” by Dvorak.

Allegro’s David Dutton conducts.

The finale will be Handel’s “Musick for the Royal Fireworks,” performed with fireworks choreographed to the music.

By the way, Allegro hedges by calling this the “only known” baroque-period arts festival in the United States.

Well, until another one makes itself known, we’re just going to say that if you want to go to a baroque festival, you’d better get yourself down to Riverfront Park this weekend.