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Welcome to the James River Shakespeare Company’s 2025 Season of “Wicked Love!”

In its second season, the JRSC’s thirty-strong collective of artists offers an ambitious repertoire of Shakespeare’s action-packed tragedy, Macbeth, and his most musical comedy, Twelfth Night. The plays mark the quatercentenary of the death of James I of England/James VI of Scotland, the monarch for whom our local waterway is named. Famously obsessed with witchcraft, enamored of music, confident in his power, and varied in his loves, James is referenced
consistently in both plays by an author eager to please the patron of his Company, The King’s Men.

Performances will take place in Newport News and beyond, with evenings planned at the Newport News Park Arboretum Stage and Patrick Henry High School in Ashland, Virginia. Patrons are also encouraged to join us for the exceptional experience of witnessing two Shakespearean plays in a single day at the Gaines Theatre on the campus of Christopher Newport University. All performances are free and open to the public.

This season, the JRSC is proud to present the work of a dedicated design team, featuring bespoke scenery, costumes, and lighting. Macbeth employs a unique soundscape that elevates the supernatural proceedings, while Twelfth Night features live, newly composed music for some of Shakespeare’s
most famous lyrics. In a feat of dedication and long-standing theatrical tradition, every element of the design was conceived and constructed by JRSC members simultaneously rehearsing their roles.

Onstage, patrons may recognize six founding performers from the JRSC’s successful 2024 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Company welcomes more than twice that number of new members to its acting team. Over an intense three-week residency, JRSC performers worked with resident and guest artists to develop the stage combat and music that will enhance this season’s experience.

Patrons are encouraged to arrive early for performances to catch our “green shows,” each a unique, interactive, and witty warm-up for Macbeth and Twelfth Night, respectively. As the JRSC’s versatile cast and crew bring formidable musical talents to bear, they might ask patrons to join in!

The Company is eager to welcome spectators, young and old, to its season of “Wicked Love,” wherein both performances explore the lengths to which passion can drive us and the consequences of human action. Twelfth Night asks whether love’s madness is funny, foolish, or frustrating, and Shakespeare warns us, “Something wicked this way comes,” in Macbeth. After 400 years, theatregoers are still wondering who is at fault for the tragedy. Join the JRSC this summer for some answers!