The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Shakespeare play entertains
Performances help draw newcomers to historic Mentor site, park official says
Jared Linder and Nicole Fiorelli could have been confused with the cast at a July 1 Cleveland Shakespeare Festival performance.
The two showed up at the outdoor venue — James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor — in period garb.
“We just came from work,” said Linder, of Mentor. “We do the Great Lakes Medieval Faire (in Rock Creek). We thought it would be nice to show up in costume for Shakespeare.”
Fiorelli, of Euclid, has attended such plays at the Garfield home for three years straight.
“I’m just obsessed with Shakespeare to begin with,” she said. “It’s just beautiful to see it in the form it’s intended to be versus just reading.”
She was not alone in her enthusiasm. The festival normally draws hundreds of people each year, depending on the weather, and this show — “The Taming of the Shrew” — was no exception.
The group will be back in Mentor July 30 for “Macbeth,” to be performed in the city’s new amphitheater.
The troupe of local actors is giving 18 performances across Greater Cleveland this summer, and this is its eighth straight year at the Garfield site.
“It’s a lovely location with a large, open lawn and made special by the extraordinary enthusiasm and support from the park staff,” said Brian Pedaci, the festival’s operations director. “Garfield himself was a fan of the Bard. There are many references in his journals to plays he’s seen or even read aloud to his children.”
The shows are free of charge. Cleveland Shakespeare Festival is supported by sources including Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, a Neighborhood Connections grant and individual donors. A goodwill offering is accepted after the performances.
The group will be back in Mentor July 30 for “Macbeth,” to be performed in the city’s new amphitheater, behind the Municipal Center.
Janet Leonard of Willowick was attending the Garfield show for the first time with her husband and their two children. She called the grounds “gorgeous.”
“It just seemed like something fun to do; something unique,” she said.
Guy Snowdon and wife Juanita McGowen brought their toddler, Sadie, who was likely the youngest attendee. The family recently moved to Willoughby from Birmingham, England, for McGowen’s job with Parker Hannifin.
“When we lived in England, we didn’t live that far from Shakespeare’s county, so this is a taste of home,” McGowen said.
The event is a boon to the National Park Service location, Site Manager Todd Arrington said.
“First, it gets people here that might not otherwise visit,” he said. “Not everyone is interested in presidential history, the Civil War, etc., but they might love literature and/ or Shakespeare, and therefore come here for this event. Secondly, it allows us to share with the public another aspect of James A. Garfield’s life, history and personality: his love of literature and the theater.”
For more information about the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, visit cleveshakes.com.