![\"Artistic](\"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260604db005.ej_303524536.jpg\" "\\"Artistic")
Take a dash of excitement, a dose of trepidation and a dollop of nerves, and you’ve got Dave Horak on the eve of the 37th Freewill Shakespeare Festival.
That’s because at long last — and with new bathrooms — the artistic director and his band of merry players is back on stage at the newly-renovated Heritage Amphitheatre in Hawrelak Park. After a multi-year period of chaos due to COVID-19 and the city’s park shut-down for upgrades, the festival returns to its long-time venue with the first of two shows and a new format.
“The company has changed over the last five years since COVID,” says Horak, who joined as artistic director just after the pandemic came calling, radically altering the offerings in 2020 and 2021. “Being out of the park, we’ve gotten a bit smaller because we’ve had to…so to get back to the park and fill that big space is a big challenge.”
The festival has re-tooled to attract new and returning audience members. Of course, there will be a classic comedy by the Bard. From June 17 to 28, Ian Leung directs Much Ado About Nothing featuring 10 Freewill favourites including Nadien Chu, Ron Pederson, Troy O’Donnell and John Ullyatt. But the festival shakes things up from July 1 to 12 with a Shakespeare-inspired musical called Something Rotten! Horak — who taught musical theatre at MacEwan University for 20 years — directs the musical starring well-known Edmonton artists Stephen Allred, Brian Christensen, Eli Yaschuk and Melenie Reid.
The show, created by brothers Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick and British comedy writer John O’Farrell, debuted on Broadway in 2015, earning 10 Tony Award nominations. Set in 1595, Something Rotten! follows two brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom (wanna-be stars of the Elizabethan stage) as they compete with Shakespeare for public attention. They invent a new theatrical form that sees actors sing and dance but run into a series of disastrous impediments involving, yes, mistaken identities.
Something Rotten! is “really funny and charming,” says Horak. He credits the idea for including the musical in this year’s festival to the leadership at Edmonton Pops Orchestra and Shelley’s Dance Company.
“The only way we could do a musical was to partner with other companies to bring in not just funding, but the people to play in the orchestra, and the dancers and chorus,” says Horak. “I thought it was a great way of trying to bring back two shows.”
Indeed, Horak wasn’t certain he’d be able to re-enter the amphitheatre with the kind of festival that Freewill fans had grown accustomed to: a pair of full-scale productions running in rep and anchored by a robust cast and crew of up to 50. While it’s never easy to perform outdoors (enter rain, wind and squirrels) things have been harder still since the pandemic and park closure, which saw Freewill scrambling for a suitable venue year after year. A drop in government funding and corporate support, combined with declining audience revenue and increasing costs have exerted heavy pressure on the festival’s bottom line. A fundraiser last year aimed to raise $150,000 but fell short, bringing in just under $59,000.
“We set the bar really high, but it’s definitely helped,” says Horak of the fundraiser. “We’re in a decent place, but looking at the future, it’s a little bit scary.”
He hopes Something Rotten! will attract new audience members, including fans of the Edmonton Pops (whose artistic director Michael Clark is music director) and Shelley’s Dance Company (whose founder Shelley Tookie designs the choreography).
In some ways, a musical is the perfect choice for the amphitheatre, which is vast, open and can be an intimidating venue. Musicals, by definition, are also big, known for elaborate sets, extravagant costumes and larger-than-life performances by an abundant cast of triple-threats. The festival has secured an impressive set, used previously by Edmonton Opera and centred around a two-storey structure that will be used for both the musical and the comedy.
“We really want to fill the space with colour and the set and costumes…but still try to hold on to the intimacy of telling these stories to an audience,” says Horak.
As part of the park renovation, there are new seats (still plastic, but more comfortable). Some of them are nearer the stage, placing cast and audience in closer proximity. Horak says other alterations to the amphitheatre area mean it’s easier to bring tents and concessions onto the site. Dressing rooms for actors are “brighter and warmer.”
A reminder. Shows at this year’s festival are not playing in rep on alternating nights, as in previous years. Horak encourages people to come and see both shows to gain a true appreciation of the depth and breadth of the new format.
“They’re very different, but it’s the same venue, under the tent,” he says. “We run rain or shine and it’s a great location. I think if people haven’t been down to Hawrelak Park, this is the year to check it out. Everything is brand new and clean. There’s nothing like it.”
Where: Heritage Amphitheatre, William Hawrelak Park, 9330 Groat Rd.
When: Much Ado About Nothing June 17 to 28, Something Rotten! July 1 to 12
Tickets: From $30 for the comedy and from $40 for the musical. Children under 12 are free and there are numerous choices for Pay-What-You-Will performances. Further information about tickets and an adopt-a-squirrel fundraiser available at freewillshakespeare.com.
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