Shakespeare under the stars!

THIS July 8 – August 2, the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival will feature two full-length productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Measure for Measure, on the campus of the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford. To accommodate growing demand, Capital Classics will stage ten rotating performances of each play, running Wednesday through Sunday evenings for four weeks. And, tickets are on sale now, too!

General Admission tickets cost $30 each when you buy them at the door, but they are only $25 each when you buy them online, in advance of the show. Plus, if you reserve 10 or more tickets in advance, you can request a special group section on the lawn, or indoors if it rains. West Hartford Chamber Members and USJ alumni, faculty, and staff also receive a discount. Just contact us for more details at info@capitalclassics.org.

Want more reasons to come to the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival? How about…

• a beautiful outdoor setting

• picnic with your family and friends

• one classic comedy and one dark comedy

• 55+ professional actors and technicians

• expanded pre-show entertainment, concessions, and cast talk-backs

• sound amplification

• free parking

• & more

Get directions and performance info to make the most of your Festival experience.

ABOUT THE plays

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Among Shakespeare’s most beloved and fantastical comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is rightly a perennial favorite for a midsummer night performance! Outside of Athens, a magical woodland kingdom finds four runaway lovers, a traveling troupe of bungling actors, and a mischievous company of fairies set on a collision course. In true Shakespearean fashion, identities get scrambled, affections get misdirected, and merry mix-ups abound. To quote Lysander, “The course of true love never did run smooth.” Packed with beloved characters like Puck, Bottom and Titania and endlessly quotable lines, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is sure to find our audience laughing and falling in love under a canopy of stars.

Measure for Measure

Called away on a mysterious diplomatic mission, Duke Vincentio places his puritanical and despotic deputy Angelo in charge of Vienna. Seizing the reins of power, Angelo sentences Claudio to death when it is discovered that Claudio’s fiancee is with child out of wedlock. When novice nun Isabella, who is also Claudio’s sister, begs for mercy for her brother, Angelo agrees to a pardon — in exchange for her chastity. Unbeknownst to everyone, Vincentio has disguised himself as a friar to observe his deputy’s nefarious misdeeds. Can Claudio be saved and Isabella’s virtue preserved in time? In this dark and still-timely comedy, Shakespeare tackles the intersections of political power, morality, religious hypocrisy, love, and sex. 

2026 PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

WEEK 1

• Wednesday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m. — Measure for Measure

• Thursday, July 9 at 7:30 p.m. — A Midsummer Night's Dream

• Friday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. — Measure for Measure

• Saturday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m. — A Midsummer Night's Dream

• Sunday, July 12 at 5:30 p.m. — Measure for Measure

WEEK 2

• Wednesday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m. — A Midsummer Night's Dream

• Thursday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m. — Measure for Measure

• Friday, July 17 at 7:30 p.m. — A Midsummer Night's Dream

• Saturday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. — Measure for Measure

• Sunday, July 19 at 7:30 p.m. — A Midsummer Night's Dream

WEEK 3

• Wednesday, July 22 at 7:30 p.m. — Measure for Measure

• Thursday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m. — A Midsummer Night's Dream

• Friday, July 24 at 7:30 p.m. — Measure for Measure

• Saturday, July 25 at 7:30 p.m. — A Midsummer Night's Dream

• Sunday, July 26 at 5:30 p.m. — Measure for Measure

WEEK 4

• Wednesday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m. — A Midsummer Night's Dream

• Thursday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m. — Measure for Measure

• Friday, July 31 at 7:30 p.m. — A Midsummer Night's Dream

• Saturday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m. — Measure for Measure

• Sunday, August 2 at 5:30 p.m. — A Midsummer Night's Dream

Every performance, you can also enjoy:

• the Art Museum at USJ will be open before every performance and during intermission for an air-conditioned view of their amazing art collection — from Georgia O'Keeffe, Sol LeWitt, and more