GRIFFITH PARK—The Independent Shakespeare Company is bringing back free theatre productions in Griffith Park with performances from June through the beginning of September, with showtimes Wednesdays through Sundays at 7 p.m.
This summer season, directors David Melville and Melissa Chalsma bring Shakespeare’s plays Coriolanus and The Comedy of Errors to Griffith Park for audiences to enjoy. Attendees are welcome to picnic at the park, with seating on the grass on a first-come, first-served basis. All performances begin with a pre-show event, featuring workshops, themed nights for the audiences, and even appearances from community guests.
During the five-week run of Coriolanus, the Independent Shakespeare Company will be hosting Pride Nite on Saturday, June 27, with a special guest appearance from West Hollywood’s first Drag Laureate, Pickle the Drag Queen.
Pickle the Drag Queen focuses on fusing education initiatives with her work within the drag community. Pickle was announced as West Hollywood’s first Drag Laureate in 2023 and has partnered with organizations such as the Independent Shakespeare Company to expand drag culture into a cultural medium, as mentioned on her website, pickledragqueen.com.
In an email interview with Pickle regarding her participation with the Independent Shakespeare Company, Pickle said, “I have a long-standing relationship with ISC, whose work in presenting free Shakespeare in the park for all these years has and continues to represent accessibility in the arts for LA.” Closely representing the work Pickle does by running the Los Angeles chapter of “Drag Story Hour.”
When asked what Shakespeare means to her, Pickle responded, “Shakespeare is one of the most essential figures in theatre and literature and the opportunity for people, young included, to engage with his works as they were intended, live and onstage is wonderful.”
When asked about her favorite Shakespearean play, Pickle responded with Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, saying, “It’s bizarre and disturbing and has some gorgeous language, as well as some early prototypes for characters we see in his later plays more fully realized. The human desire for revenge and our proclivity for destruction is beautifully captured in the text.”
For more information on the Independent Shakespeare Company’s performance calendar and themed nights, visit http://indieshakes.org.
