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The New Mexico Shakespeare Festival launches its 2026 summer season with free outdoor productions of Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淛ulius Caesar,鈥� directed by Marc Comstock, and 鈥淎 Winter鈥檚 Tale,鈥� directed by Gregg W. Brevoort, at sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Veteran鈥檚 Memorial Park.

Festival director Levi Gore, who will direct 鈥淢acbeth鈥� in the fall, said he wanted to explore themes of power and passion this year.

鈥淲ith 鈥楥aesar,鈥� we鈥檙e exploring the themes of political power, manipulation, ambition and public influence,鈥� Gore said. 鈥溾�楾he Winter鈥檚 Tale鈥� examines jealousy and obsession, but ultimately the redeeming power of time and forgiveness.鈥�

Julius Caesar

Comstock has chosen to set 鈥淛ulius Caesar鈥� in 1930s-era Italy, infusing the play with a film noir aesthetic and incorporating subtle allusions to fascism.

鈥淚鈥檓 kind of a film buff, and I鈥檝e been watching some film noir, and I thought, 鈥榃ow, 鈥淐aesar鈥� lends itself to that,鈥欌�� Comstock said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a conspiracy, so there鈥檚 a lot of talk in the shadows.鈥�

One film in particular that informed his vision was 鈥淭he Third Man鈥� by Orson Welles.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all about secrets and who holds the power, and other people listening everywhere. It鈥檚 just so tense in its underbelly,鈥� Comstock said. 鈥溾�� I thought a lot of those elements are also in 鈥楾he Third Man.鈥� 鈥� So, I just took that as my jumping-off point, and then I鈥檝e been working with our amazing design team to see how we could translate that onto the stage.鈥�

Comstock hopes his production will appeal to fans of fast-paced thrillers and crime films, even if they don鈥檛 think of themselves as Shakespeare aficionados.

鈥淢y goal is to make this a fast-moving, suspenseful story that just happens to have Julius Caesar at the center of it,鈥� he said.

Although he has set the play in a fictionalized version of 1930s Italy, his Caesar is not meant to be Benito Mussolini. Comstock has, however, incorporated 鈥�30s-era technologies, including radio, to highlight the theme of mass media as a potential propaganda tool.

鈥淲hen Mark Antony is giving his 鈥楩riends, Romans, countrymen鈥� speech, and Brutus is giving his equivalent of that, they鈥檙e being broadcast 鈥� on the radio,鈥� Comstock said.

The Winter鈥檚 Tale

Brevoort, who is directing 鈥淭he Winter鈥檚 Tale,鈥� is based in Los Angeles but freelance directs all over the country. This will be his first production with the New Mexico Shakespeare Festival.

鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely a challenging play, and it鈥檚 not one that鈥檚 too commonly produced, although 鈥� if you talk to directors, especially Shakespeare directors, it tends to be the project that they really want to do, or it鈥檚 one of their favorites,鈥� Brevoort said. 鈥溾�� It comes very late in (Shakespeare鈥檚) career, and in that period he鈥檚 doing all kinds of bizarre, strange things.鈥�

Although classified as romance, 鈥淭he Winter鈥檚 Tale鈥� begins as a tragedy and includes elements of comedy and fantasy. For his production, Brevoort said he wanted to lean into the play鈥檚 fairy tale elements.

鈥淎t the top of Act 2, there鈥檚 a child, the king鈥檚 son, (who) basically says, 鈥楾his is a tale best told for winter.鈥� So, that forced me to look at the whole play and try to find a certain frequency of magical, bizarre dramaturgical elements. And I did find a consistent stream of them,鈥� Brevoort said.

Several of Brevoort鈥檚 cast members also contributed ideas that enhanced the fairy tale quality of the production. Lola Yarrington, a high school student who has a small but important role as a servant in the Sicilian court, mentioned during an early table reading that one passage reminded her of Walt Disney鈥檚 鈥淏eauty and the Beast.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 like, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 exactly right 鈥� Please tell me more,鈥� and I gave her the floor. She expressed what she was talking about, and we all kind of riffed on it,鈥� he said.

For Leontes, the jealous king, Brevoort said he initially imagined a serious, austere interpretation of the role. That all changed when Jack Litherland, who is normally a comic actor, showed up to the audition.

鈥淗e did a monologue from Dogberry in 鈥楳uch Ado about Nothing,鈥� which is a very comic role. Apparently he played Dogberry about a year or two ago, and he just did Uncle Fester in 鈥楾he Addams Family鈥� in a local production. So, this is clearly a comic actor. He鈥檚 got the physicality, and he鈥檚 obviously got the comic chops,鈥� Brevoort said. 鈥溾�� But I said, 鈥榊ou know what? I think this guy needs to be Leontes鈥� 鈥� an otherwise jovial, nice, friendly guy who our sympathies as an audience could go out to, but then something snaps and he goes ballistic.鈥�

Brevoort said audiences are sometimes intimidated by Shakespeare, and especially by his lesser-known plays, such as 鈥淭he Winter鈥檚 Tale,鈥� but he hopes people will give up their preconceptions and just come out and enjoy themselves.

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to have a very accessible show,鈥� Brevoort said. 鈥淚t鈥檒l be a roller coaster, because we go from tragedy to comedy and cover the whole gamut. It should be very entertaining.鈥�

The plays are performed outdoors, and audiences are encouraged to bring blankets, folding chairs and snacks.

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at .