Hawrelak Hosts Freewill Shakespeare Festival Once Again

Shakespeare returns to the river valley this summer, making William Hawrelak Park a destination for theatre lovers once again.

“Over the last three years we’ve been vagabonds, and we’ve been in different locations,” says David Horak, the festival’s artistic director. When the park closed for rehabilitation in 2023 the Free Will Players Theatre Guild, which has hosted the festival since 1989, was forced to hit the road. They got creative, performing in backyards, community league ice rinks and Louise McKinney Riverfront Park.

New this year

Hawrelak Park reopened in March following its rehabilitation, and now the Free Will Players are moving back in for the festival. Horak describes the feelings as “overall excited and a little nervous” to be filling the seats of the park’s amphitheater again. It’s a much larger venue than the one-off locations of recent years. But going back to the amphitheatre doesn’t mean everything will be as it was. Horak and the other organizers had to weigh the options between playing it safe and holding a normal festival like they did before the park closed or trying something new. They opted for the latter.

This year Freewill Shakespeare is performing a musical, and the company is doing it by collaborating with two other organizations: Edmonton Pops Orchestra and Shelley’s Dance Company. Edmonton Pops performs jazz, classical, pop and broadway tunes to showcase storytelling through music while Shelley’s offers dance classes at multiple skill levels, including a competitive team. The last time the festival had a musical was 2007, where they did an adaptation of The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

This year the festival will feature Something Rotten! written by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, which debuted on Broadway in 2015. Based on a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, it follows two brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom, as they compete as playwrights against Shakespeare in 1595 London.

“I didn’t really know it until it was pitched to me, and when I listened to it and read it, I went, ‘Oh, this is a great return,’” says Horak, who is also directing the show for the festival. “It’s got a lot of Shakespeare references in it. If you know Shakespeare, you’re going to find those jokes really fun. It’s got references to musical theatre, so if you know musical theatre, you’re going to love it. If you don’t know any of those two things, you’re going to find the humour and the jokes enjoyable. It’s a hilarious, fun musical.”

Something for the traditionalists, too

Don’t worry, while Something Rotten! is the festival’s big swing, the 2026 line up still has a play from the Bard himself. Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s comedy about romance and miscommunication set in Italy leads the festival. The show is being directed by Ian Leung, who also teaches Shakespeare at the University of Alberta and stars many names familiar to Edmonton’s theatre-going community, including Jesse Gervais, John Ullyatt, Nadien Chu and Vanessa Sabourin.

Rather than having the shows run concurrently, they’ll be taking place one after the other. Much Ado’s run spans from June 17 to 28 and Something Rotten! follows, from July 1 to 12. The sequential nature of the run is because of money and logistics. The musical has a licensing fee for the company and brings the challenges of live music and dancing. Separate runs made sense, Horak says.

The park squirrels approve (probably)

Finally, there’s a new way to support the festival beyond just buying a ticket or donating monthly. You can sponsor a park squirrel — and the proceeds go right back to the Free Will Players.

“The squirrels are quite a presence in the park,” Horak says, “running across the stage, or stealing popcorn.” In the past they’ve sold squirrel stuffed animals as merchandise, but Horak thought this was a good way to make the park’s furry residents part of the festival’s return. The Free Will team was inspired by the Fringe’s Adopt a Porta-Potty program. “We had fun coming up with the names,” he says. (They’re all puns like Will Squeakspeare, MacNutt and Lady MacNutt.) “And it’s been popular. Some of them have already completely sold out.”

Whether you go to both shows or one, whether you adopt a squirrel or not, Horak says everyone will have a great time at the festival — even if you’re not a die-hard fan of Shakespeare’s work. He describes it as hanging out in your backyard and there just happens to be a fully produced performance going on. “My favourite thing,” Horak says, “is when I see someone go, ‘I never thought I liked this, but now I’m coming back.’”