Two new adaptations by directors Elizabeth Dinkova and Jaz Hall running AUGUST 12 – 30, 2026
Shakespeare in the Woods (SitW) continues to lead the way on producing a reimagined Shakespeare Canon for here and now. With sharp, urgent storytelling at the core of productions, SitW is dedicated to giving their audiences an experience that is entertaining, relatable, and immersive – stripping away the notion that one needs to be a Shakespearean expert in order to attend or enjoy a show. Founded in 2019, SitW is an outdoor theatre company committed to leading bold theatrical experimentation through a modern, radical, and gender expansive queer lens, creating innovative and revelatory adaptations of Shakespeare that invite both artist and audience to imagine the text as a new work entirely.
2026 SEASON
April 20, 2026 (Manchester, Vermont) — Shakespeare in the Woods (SitW) is proud to announce its 6th Repertory Season of fierce, cutting-edge outdoor theatre. Hailed by audiences as “The best Shakespeare you’ll ever see” the burgeoning, award-winning company will present two new provocative adaptations of LEAR andMERRY WIVES. Performances will occur during August 12- 30, on the idyllic Taconic Lawn at venue partner The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa in Manchester, Vermont. The 2026 Season will be one of “Chaos and Folly”, exploring a variety of themes including love, control, jealousy, deception, nature, and community. Helming the productions are virtuoso directors Elizabeth Dinkova (Lear), returning for her third SitW season, and Jaz Hall (Merry Wives), joining for their first.
“I am delighted to share what an absolute banner season we have coming up this summer. SitW continues to ground itself in our subversive, queer roots with this season’s offerings. In a time of crisis and fear in America and beyond, I believe it is vital that our art is bold, takes risks, and pierces through the noise of inaction and despair. Beth and Jaz’s adaptations of Lear and Merry Wives seek to confront the current moment in the most unexpected, profound (and at times, downright audacious) ways. Our Lear interrogates power and legacy in an unlikely setting, seeking to make sense of the worlds we inherit and the ones we pass on, and how to move forward when it feels like the world is ending. Our Merry Wives drops us into heightened absurdity of peacockery and queer camp that revels in untangling masculinity in revelatory ways and a healthy dash of soap opera dramatic flair. These adaptations have a sense of electric urgency coursing through them that asks audiences to move a little closer and also reinforces what a powerful antidote theatre can be.“ said Producing Artistic Director Katharine Maness (they/them).
LEAR
By William Shakespeare
Adapted & Directed by Elizabeth Dinkova
A small secluded community has sworn off the rest of the world and built their own perfect haven in the woods. In this land of sacred hymns and mystical rites, matriarch Lear demands complete submission, but it’s a small price to pay for utopia. When Lear decides to pass the reins to her daughters and a prodigal son returns, lines between cult and culture blur. As society strains under the weight of the old guard’s expectations and the new guard’s machinations, everyone’s true self will be revealed.
ELIZABETH DINKOVA BIO:
Elizabeth Dinkova (she/her) is a Bulgarian director, adaptor, and collaborative creator who explores alternative realities at the intersection of theater, film, and music in pursuit of communal transformation. She has previously worked with Shakespeare in the Woods directing & adapting Coriolanus and Hamlet. Elizabeth is the Artistic Director of Washington D.C.’s award-winning Spooky Action Theater. In 2021-22, she was an Associate Artistic Director of 7 Stages Theatre, Atlanta’s hub for boundary-pushing international theater. She is an alum of the Alliance Theatre’s Artistic Leadership fellowship, the Studio Theatre’s Artistic Apprenticeship, and a graduate from the MFA Directing program at the Yale School of Drama, where she served as a Co-Artistic Director of the Yale Summer Cabaret and received the Julian Milton Kaufman prize for Directing. Recent projects include Richard Strauss’s opera Salome with Heartbeat Opera (NYT Critics’ Pick), Theater J’s The Berlin Diaries, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company’s Dead Inside (Associate Director), Spooky Action’s The Dragon, Professor Woland’s Black Magic Rock Show (also Book Co-Writer), Frontiéres Sans Frontiéres, Sonnets for an Old Century and workshop of Syrena, Rage, a play with music inspired by Stephen King’s eponymous novel, the visual album TIT, inspired by Titus Andronicus and co-written with Jesse Rasmussen, at the NYC Indie Theatre Film Festival, The Seagull at Serenbe Playhouse, and the opera Orfeo ed Euridice at Bel Cantanti Opera Company. Elizabeth has taught acting, directing, devising, and musical theater at the Toronto Metropolitan University, University of California Riverside, Quinnipiac University, and Queens College CUNY.
MERRY WIVES
By William Shakespeare
Adapted & Directed by Jaz Hall
Ain’t no party like a peafowl party cause a peafowl party don’t… squawk?! Step right up, you don’t want to miss the PEACOCK PROMENADE. Domesticity be damned; in this quick witted, anachronistic envisioning, our merry “Mistresses of Ceremony” manage the most (systemically) popular show on Earth. Step right up, it’s burlesque.. it’s drag… it’s… the PERFORMANCE OF MASCULINITY! Thaaaaat’s right, grounded in one of Mutha Nature’s most fabulous displays of virility, this delightfully absurd production subverts societally expected and accepted expressions of “masculinity” simply with an exchange of modus operandi (the method of expression).
JAZ HALL BIO:
Jaz Hall (they/them) is a Black neurospicy, queer & genderqueer interdisciplinary performer & creative leader. Founder of “WOMB, the creation space,” Jaz is devoted to placemaking for independent artists from historically marginalized communities. Works for & by these communities are the forward momentum of necessary change. Most recently, Jaz assistant directed the world premiere of The Great Privation by Nia Akilah Robinson at Soho Rep & co-directed the transformative ‘TIA PRAY A SOUND by a.k. payne in Breaking the Binary’s Theatre Festival. Other recent collaborators include Play On Shakespeare, Universes & Ashland New Play Festival. Oregon Shakespeare Festival – ADMINISTRATOR: Artistic Producing Team (2019-2021), Interim FAIR Manager (2024, “The FAIR Experience” program revival); ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Alice In Wonderland (2019), Once On This Island (2022), Romeo & Juliet (2023), Macbeth (2024); PERFORMER: Acting Company (2022); Green Show Stage (2022-2024); FREELANCE PRODUCER: WOMB (2020-2021, Virtual); Green Show Stage (2022-2024). TRAINING: MFA Candidate, Directing (May 2028, CalArts); BFA, Musical Theatre (Howard University); FAIR Directing Assistantship (2019, OSF); Allen Lee Hughes Artistic Development Casting Fellow (2014-2015, Arena Stage). http://www.TheJazHall.com
2026 TICKET AND PERFORMANCE INFORMATION:
Tickets for Lear and Merry Wives will be available for advance online purchase starting June 1st, 2026, with same day purchase available at the box office day of performances. SitW uses a sliding scale ticket model with multiple price points, including a zero cost option.
Early Bird Deal: $80 for a ticket bundle to both productions, when purchased before July 12, 2026 (single tickets for Lear and Merry Wives, valued at $40/ea).
All season performances take place outdoors on the Taconic Lawn at The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa (3567 Main St, Manchester, VT 05254), and are rain or shine. In the event of severe weather conditions, SitW will provide time sensitive updates.
Repertory performances will occur August 12 – 30, Wednesdays through Sundays at 7:30pm, with a 2pm matinee closing performance on 8/30. Queer Affinity Night performance dates and additional Community Events TBA. For all season information and to plan your visit: www.shakespeareinthewoods.org