We’re just a few days away from opening our 2025 season with Macbeth in the Fredericton Botanic Garden and The Merry Wives of Windsor on the Grounds of Christ Church Cathedral! We’ll be kicking things off with a pay-what-you-will preview performance for The Merry Wives of Windsor on Tuesday, June 17th! Our preview performances are a great option for those who would like to see our shows on a budget, with tickets being sold by donation at a minimum of $5. The preview performance for Macbeth will be held on Thursday, June 19th. Official opening performances will be on June 18th for The Merry Wives of Windsor and June 20th for Macbeth.

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, audiences will be taken on a short hike through the old-growth forest, rubbing shoulders with witches, ghosts, and murderers, as Shakespeare’s famous tale of the rise and fall of a legendary Scottish king unfolds all around them.

Meanwhile, the madcap, farcical comedy of The Merry Wives of Windsor will unfold in a traditional fixed-seating staging on the grounds of Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Fredericton. Featuring the antics of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comic characters, the vainglorious knight Sir John Falstaff, The Merry Wives of Windsor finds a penniless Falstaff seeking to reverse his fortunes by seducing two different well-to-do married women. When the wives discover his scheme, they decide to give Falstaff the comeuppance he richly deserves. Bard in the Barracks’ production transports the play to early 1960s New Jersey, with hijinks galore as The Honeymooners meet The Sopranos meet Shakespeare.

Directed by Len Falkenstein, Macbeth and The Merry Wives of Windsor will run from June 17 to July 7. “Choose Your Price” tickets for the shows start at $15 and can be purchased at the door or online. Full show, schedule, and ticket information can be found right here on our website. For more information, email emery.hatchard@unb.ca or call 506 230-6556.