Shakespeare under the stars

It all started with an offhand comment from a student who said, “I don’t want to leave Rice without having done a Shakespeare play outside on this beautiful campus.”

At first, Christina Keefe, professor in the practice in theater and director of the Rice Theatre Program, thought nothing of it; she agreed that it would be a lovely idea.

Then as she walked around the campus one fall day, Keefe walked through the courtyard outside Rice Gallery and thought that the archway would really be a perfect place to set something sort of Grecian.

A year later, the Rice Theatre Program is producing “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” outside on campus, utilizing those columns and the stunning oak tree in Founder’s Court. And as for the student who made the comment? She is playing Titania, queen of the fairies, in her senior year.

(Photos by Jeff Fitlow)