Wichita Shakespeare Company presents 'As You Like It' and 'The Tempest' this season

Shakespeare in the Park is a national tradition dating back to 1954 when Joseph Papp began staging free productions in New York City’s Central Park. His mission — making classical texts accessible to everyone regardless of income — took hold and spread throughout the country. Now, it is possible to find variations of free Shakespeare performed outdoors in just about every city.

Wichita is no exception: The Wichita Shakespeare Company has presented summer Shakespeare for decades. The company took over a local initiative to produce Shakespeare in Wichita parks that began in 1981, and WSC has operated since 1998, making this summer the 28th season of free Shakespeare for the Wichita area.

The Wichita Shakespeare Company's 2025 season featured the star-crossed "Romeo and Juliet." File photos by Hannah Crickman for The SHOUT.

This year, WSC will produce “As You Like It , ” __ directed by Kevin Sowers and opening in June, and “The Tempest , ” __ directed by Abri Geist and opening in late summer. The free shows will tour a variety of the city’s parkland.

Sowers and Geist both discovered their love of Shakespeare early in their lives. Sowers grew up in Virginia, south of Washington D.C.

“My very first Shakespeare was ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ It was in the middle of the woods in the park, in an amphitheater,” Sowers said. He began participating in theater around middle school. Since moving to Wichita in 2008, he is primarily an actor, but this will be his 10th production as a director. Geist was introduced to Shakespeare in high school when the teacher had them read the plays aloud in class.

“I fell in love with the language, the challenge of it,” Geist said. She has lived in the Wichita area for nearly 20 years and also is primarily an actor, but is no stranger to all parts of the art form. Both directors are committed to making Shakespeare accessible to all audiences.

Night falls and stage lights twinkle during last September's performance of "Romeo and Juliet." File photos by Hannah Crickman for The SHOUT.

“As You Like It” will open June 5 in College Hill Park. Sowers is extending the spirit of accessibility beyond the ticket price and into the concept, beginning with the language, which “isn’t as hard to understand as other Shakespearean plays,” he said.

He is imagining this production as an “every person in every place” affair with a soundtrack spanning the ages. The pivotal wrestling scene, when one brother has schemed for another to die instead of inheriting their portion of the estate, will be staged as a modern WWE match with the crowd encouraged to boo and cheer.

Sowers will play one of the wrestlers as well as another character, William, whom he describes as “a local yokel, a combination of the Andy Griffith show hillbilly character Ernest T. Bath and comedian Leslie Jordan.”

While “As You Like It” __ is not as well known as other Shakespeare comedies, Sowers is aiming for an evening of high-energy fun. “I want them to feel like they were at a party.”

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Geist’s “The Tempest” __ prioritizes both accessibility and inclusion. Geist is imagining the show through a lens of redefining gender roles. As written, the main character, the magician Prospero, is shipwrecked on an island with his daughter, Miranda. They encounter Prince Ferdinand, who falls in love with Miranda. A sprite-like figure named Ariel and a monstrous native, Caliban, also appear. Geist will interpret Prospero as Prospera, washed ashore with her son and meeting a Princess. The action will play out as written. Geist is considering Caliban as potentially transgender and Ariel as a puppet.

“I’d like (audiences) to question how we handle gender roles, how we handle transgender people,” Geist said. Prospero, traditionally the story’s protagonist, will be more problematic in this production. Geist said she hopes people “look closer at our heroes and re-evaluate our assumptions.”

Audiences gathered in camping chairs to watch the Wichita Shakespeare Company's production of "Romeo and Juliet" last September. File photo by Hannah Crickman for The SHOUT.

The Details

Wichita Shakespeare Company presents “As You Like It”

Performances are at 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday, June 5-21 in parks throughout the Greater Wichita area. In June, they include College Hill, High Park (Derby), Exploration Place, Buffalo, Heritage Park Plaza (Andover), Central Riverside, and an indoor performance at University Friends Church.

On June 6 and 13, the production will be at the Wichita Foundation Amphitheater at Exploration Place, with local food trucks available. Audience members are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or blanket, bug spray, and perhaps a light picnic for the pre-show. The family event is open to all.

Find the full schedule on the Wichita Shakespeare Company website.

_Leslie Coates is a theater faculty member at Butler Community College and has acting and directing credits from San Diego to New England. He is a former board member for Forum Theatre Company where he also appeared in "Christmas Letters," "Pump Boys and Dinettes," and various Words and Music performances. _

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