Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis

St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s free production of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” travels to different parks throughout St. Louis until Aug. 27. The fast-paced production reimagines the 500-year-old comedy as a 1990s sitcom.

Many critics of the white-dominated theater canon in the U.S. point to the intense focus on Shakespeare as a force that holds back artists of color. St. Louis Shakespeare Festival's production of "King Lear" features a predominately Black cast — and makes room for new interpretations of a revered playwright.