Colorado Shakespeare Festival announces 2027 season

Celebrating its 70th season, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival returns June 5–Aug. 1, 2027 to continue its tradition of presenting world-class performances on the University of Colorado Boulder campus.

The 2027 season features four Shakespeare classics in the festival’s two venues. Opening June 5 at the newly renovated Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Tim Orr, launches the season. The indoor Roe Green Theatre will host Henry IV, Part 1, directed by Kevin Rich. In June, Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, directed by Wendy Franz, joins the outdoor lineup, followed in July by Henry IV, Part 2, also directed by Rich, in the Roe Green Theatre.

In 2027, the indoor Roe Green Theatre will debut new seating and enhanced sound. Last season, CSF audiences returned to the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre after a two-year renovation that improved seating, accessibility, lighting and sound and added patio seating and a spacious atrium lobby with a café.

As the second-oldest Shakespeare festival in the nation, CSF celebrates the works of William Shakespeare and other classic playwrights. The festival attracts thousands of attendees each year, and is recognized as one of the premier destinations for Shakespeare enthusiasts worldwide.

Season tickets are available at coloradoshakes.org, by phone at 303-492-8008 or in person at the CU Presents Box Office (weekdays, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.). Single tickets will be available starting Dec. 1, 2026. Visit the CSF website or contact the box office for ticket details and a full performance schedule.

Colorado Shakespeare Festival 2027 season

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Seeking freedom from patriarchal expectations, four young Athenians flee into a deep, dark, magical forest, where the Fairy king orders the mischievous sprite Puck to administer a potion to confuse their affections. As King Oberon and his queen, Titania, spar over a young child, an inept troupe of players enter the wood to rehearse Pyramus and Thisbe, in preparation for mortal king Theseus’ wedding to Hippolyta. Love, sorcery, hijinks and trickery swirl into a delightful, hilarious celebration of self-discovery and transformation.

Henry IV, Part 1

By William Shakespeare
Directed by Kevin Rich
June 13–July 31, 2027, Roe Green Theatre

Even as his father’s reign is threatened by upstart nobles, wayward Prince Hal haunts the tavern with boastful, comic Falstaff and consorts with thieves. King Henry IV rues the comparison between his unruly son and the powerful rebel Hotspur, but when civil war ignites, Hal proves a worthy heir to the throne in battle. The play ends on a cliffhanger, as the king plots his pursuit of the remaining rebels—and time stands ready to pursue its own relentless ends.

Hamlet

By William Shakespeare
Directed by Wendy Franz
June 27–July 31, 2027, Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre

Prince Hamlet returns to Denmark, where his father’s ghost reveals that he was murdered by his brother Claudius, who has taken the throne and married Queen Gertrude. Vowing revenge, the prince poses as a madman even as he investigates the crime. But the ruse portends tragedy for his beloved, Ophelia, for his country and for himself. Shakespeare’s gripping examination of the consequences of corruption and betrayal shines light on the challenge of protecting truth at a time when deception rules the day.

Henry IV, Part 2

By William Shakespeare
Directed by Kevin Rich
July 11–Aug. 1, 2027, Roe Green Theatre

As King Henry IV grows ill and weak, young Prince Hal struggles to balance his old, delinquent life with his approaching ascension to the throne. The prince’s longtime fellow traveler, the comical Falstaff, expects to gain favor and influence when his friend assumes the throne. But battle and responsibility have forever changed Hal’s outlook. By turns comic, wistful and grave, the second part in the Henriad saga reveals the march of time as the ultimate, inexorable arbiter of all things.