Bard in the Barn

Bard in the Barn returns to Macomb, with three more Elizabethan plays performed using the distinctive Unrehearsed Shakespeare technique. Alumni, out-of-town guests and Western Illinois University students will come together the weekend of September 27th and 28th, a part of the Macomb Convention and Visitors Bureau's special Barnacopia event, to present Richard the Third, Volpone and Measure for Measure.

Richard the Third, to be presented Saturday the 27th beginning at noon, features one of theatre's greatest villains as its title character. A ferociously ambitious hunchback with no conscience, Richard disposes of enemies, friends and family if they get in the way of his claim to the throne – and somehow charms the audience while he does it. The famous line "Now is the winter of our discontent…" begins this play, and it ends with a sword fight and the equally famous "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"

Bard in the Barn

The comedy Measure for Measure also performs on Saturday, beginning at 4:00 pm. This play tells the story of a deputy duke who, in his superior's absence, begins enforcing long—ignored laws that punish immorality with a death sentence. When power begins to corrupt the upright and morally rigid deputy and turn him into a hypocrite, the absent duke returns in disguise to set things right, learning a few lessons of his own along the way.

Bard in the Barn breaks new ground with its third offering: Volpone, a comedy by Shakespeare's friend and rival playwright Ben Jonson, to be performed Sunday the 28th at 2:00 pm. Never before produced in the Unrehearsed performance style in the USA, Volpone centers around a miser pretending to be deathly ill so that everyone will bring him expensive gifts, all hoping to rewarded with an inheritance. As his schemes become more and more outrageous, characters begin to double-cross one another until no one is sure who is on whose side anymore.

All Bard in the Barn performances will be at the Flack Barn east of Macomb. Admission is $5 for one play and $10 for a weekend—two or three plays—ticket or $2 and $4 for student tickets. Tickets will be available at the Flack Barn and can be purchased in advance at the Macomb Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau at 214 North Lafayetter or at the College of Fine Arts and Communication Dean's Office in Browne 117. Call 309.298.1618 for more information.