Today, Shakespeare’s birthday (happy 461st, Will!), seems like the perfect occasion to announce that Bard in the Barracks, Fredericton’s outdoor Shakespeare company, has another exciting season in store for 2025, again featuring two productions staged in contrasting styles in different locations, and including one of Shakespeare’s most iconic works.

Macbeth, the Bard’s bloody and thrilling tragedy of power, ambition, and the supernatural, will be staged as an immersive promenade-style production amid the natural and rugged beauty of the Fredericton Botanic Garden and adjoining Odell Park. As the sun sets, Shakespeare’s famous tale of the rise and fall of a legendary Scottish king, replete with ghosts, witches, assassinations and epic battles, will unfold all around the audience as they follow the action from scene to scene. Last staged by the company in 2010-11, Macbeth remains Bard in the Barracks’ best-attended production of all time, so be sure to secure your tickets early!

Meanwhile, the farcical comedy of The Merry Wives of Windsor will take place in a traditional fixed-seating staging on the grounds of Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Fredericton. Purportedly written to honour Queen Elizabeth’s request to see one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comic characters, the rotund and vainglorious knight Sir John Falstaff from his Henry IV plays, in a romantic comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor finds Falstaff down on his luck and feeling the pinch of an empty wallet. Seeking to reverse his fortunes, he decides to woo not one, but two, well-to-do married women. When the wives, as well as their husbands, discover his scheme, they devise a plan to give Falstaff the comeuppance he so richly deserves. Suffice to say, the comic hijinks that ensues will be truly delightful!

Directed by Len Falkenstein, Macbeth and The Merry Wives of Windsor will run (on alternating evenings) from June 20 to July 6. Watch this space for information about auditions (coming very soon), with our detailed performance schedule and ticket information on the way later in May.