The 70th Season of Summer Theatre Presents:

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

When: June 27-29, 7:30pm | June 30, 2:00pm
Where: Frederickson Theatre, Roosevelt Hall

"The Two Gentlemen of Verona" revolves around themes of love and friendship. It is one of Shakespeare’s earliest and least produced comedies. Shakespeare pulls many aspects from this play for his later plays, including especially "Romeo and Juliet" and "Twelfth Night." Its leading characters are young people in love, and their dealings with their parents, their servants, outsiders, and one another. This show also features man’s best friend: a dog named Crab. In celebration of Summer Theatre’s 70th Anniversary, there will be a photo display in the lobby featuring pictures from our past, including memorabilia from our first year in 1955.

The oldest continuously-running summer theatre on the Great Plains was created by Dr. Karl C. Bruder at Emporia State University in 1955. Until 1967, ESU Summer Theatre was presented in Albert Taylor Hall and from 1955-1958 featured an astounding 8 shows in 8 weeks! The usual format for the next 21 years (1959-1979) was 6 shows, and from 1980 until 2020 4 shows was the norm. Starting in 2021, the summer program will serve as a focused, pre-professional opportunity highlighting the skills of rising seniors as performers, designers and production ensemble. Hundreds of former ESU students have benefited from the intense training that our summer experience has provided, and our audiences are drawn from cities and towns throughout Kansas and from throughout the region.

We believe that summer theatre is a vital performing arts activity in the Flint Hills. You also know that the costs of putting on a summer season of plays continue to rise. As you enjoy this summer theatre offering, we hope that you will take a moment to consider a gift to ESU Theatre.

We encourage Angles to offer a gift to the Butcher Summer Theatre Fund. As this fund grows, we can better meet the growing costs of producing live theatre and help to underwrite the work of our student artists—the heart of ESU Theatre. You can contact the ESU Theatre office at 341-5256 and with your help, we hope to provide live theatre every summer for many years to come.

Sincerely,
Dennis Turney Jr., Interim Director of Theatre
Emporia State University

Please make a lasting contribution to the future of ESU Summer Theatre by making a tax-deductible contribution to the ESU Summer Theatre Angels endowed fund in the ESU Foundation.

• Angels: Gifts of $100-$249
• Patrons: Gifts of $250-499
• Producers: Gifts of $500-$999
• Sponsors: Gifts of $1,000 or more

Gifts of any size are always welcome. Please make your checks payable to "ESU Foundation" and mail them to:

ESU Summer Theatre Angels
Emporia State University, Box 4061
1 Kellogg Circle
Emporia, KS 66801