Sweet Wag Shakespeare, the MFA company of Mary Baldwin’s Shakespeare and Performance (S&P) program, puts on their festival of plays, The Sweet Festival of Wags, March 30 through April 4 during which they re-present performances from their six-show season, including Strange Absence: A Devised Show, Hamlet, War of the Roses, As You Like It, The City Nightcap, and Cymbeline.
The Sweet Festival of Wags also features free workshops; an encore performance of Quietus (A Performative Provocation) by students in S&P’s MLitt program; a designer’s gallery and free concert; and the first Mad Wag Festival-within-a-Festival, a 24-hour production competition featuring faculty, alumni, and current members of the S&P community. The Mad Wag Festival-within-a-Festival has participants perform 30-minute productions of plays that nearly made it into the company’s six-show season, but didn’t make the final cut.
Most events are open to the public and all are open to donations. For details, see , or visit for updates.
Sweet Festival of Wags Schedule
March 30
- 8 pm, Masonic Blue (5th floor Masonic Building): Quietus (A Performative Provocation)
March 31
- 6 pm, Hunt Gallery at : Reception and Festival Kick-Off Concert
April 1
- 6 pm, Masonic Blue (5th floor Masonic Building): Strange Absence
*Note: Seating is limited for this performance. To get a seat, send an email to sweetwagshakespeare@gmail.com or get a lottery ticket while attending Quietus or the Kick-Off Concert. Seat winners will be announced at the end of the concert on Thursday night.
April 2
- Noon, Masonic Blue (5th floor Masonic Building): Hamlet
- 4:30 pm, Masonic Red (5th floor Masonic Building): Shakespeare’s War of the Roses
April 3
- All day, Masonic Building: open rehearsals of Mad Wag shows
- Noon, Masonic Grey (4th floor Masonic Building): “Lunch and Learn” Wordplay Workshop
- 4:30 pm, Masonic Blue (5th floor Masonic Building): Mad Wag Festival-within-a-Festival
April 4
- 12:30 pm, Blackfriars Playhouse: The City Nightcap
- 8 pm, Blackfriars Playhouse: Cymbeline