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Shakespeare in the Park

Inspiring Social Change

About the Festival

Guest Artists
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2025 Guest Artists

Wil Johnson (Celebrity Guest Star, King Henry IV) is a British theatre, film, and television actor who previously performed at Tallahassee’s Southern Shakespeare Festival production of The Taming of the Shrew in 1997.
  • THEATRE: The Merry Wives of Windsor (RSC), The School for Scandal (RSC), SHED:Exploded View (Royal Exchange Theatre) JITNEY (Old Vic Theatre) Running with Lions (Lyric Hammersmith) Women Beware Women (Sam Wannamaker) Glengarry Glen Ross (UK Tour) Sweat (Donmar Warehouse/Giegud Theatre) Leave Taking (Bush Theatre) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (Old Vic Theatre) King Lear (Royal Exchange Theatre) A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes (Tricycle Theatre) The Great Goat Bubble (Druid Theatre Ireland) The Queen & I (Vaudeville Theatre) Shallowing Dark (Theatre 503) Serious Money (Birmingham Rep) Torn (Arcola Theatre) Wild Turkey (Troxy Bar) Redundant (Royal Court) Othello (Royal Lyceum Edinburgh) Twelfth Night (International Tour) Running Dream (Theatre Royal Stratford East) Fuente Ovejuna (Royal National Theatre) The Bacchae (Shared Experience).
  • TELEVISION: Cobra:Rebellion (SKY) House of the Dragon (HBO Max) The Larkins (Of Productions/ITV) Death in Paradise (Red Planet/BBC) Vera (ITV) Hetty Feather (BBC) Carnival Row (Legendary Television) Lewis (ITV) Outlander (Lionsgate/Amazon) The Five (SKY) Moving On (BBC) Emmerdale (ITV) Holby City (BBC) Waterloo Road (BBC) Buried Treasure (ITV) Waking the Dead (BBC) Clocking Off (BBC) Babyfather (BBC) Cracker (ITV) Anna Lee (ITV) The Bill (ITV) Starting Out (BBC) London’s Burning (ITV).
  • FILM: Tell No Lies (Tubi Originals) Macbeth (Green Screen Productions) In a Better World (Zentropa) Dead End (Ocean Storm Films) Anuvahood (Revolver) Pimp (Triple S Films) Adulhood (Adulthood Limited) Yes (Adventure Pictures) South West 9 (Fruit Salad Films) Babymother (Film Four) Emotional Backgammon (Epicum Films)

Conner Wilson (Director, Henry IV part I) is a freelance director based out of Brooklyn, New York. He has worked as an Associate Director on Broadway working with John Tiffany and Jack Thorne on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Moises Kaufman and Harvey Fierstein on Torch Song Trilogy. Alongside maintaining the show on Broadway, Conner also built the first Japanese Language production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in Tokyo and additionally the sit down production in San Francisco. He has had the good fortune to work professionally at many theatres across the country including: The Great River Shakespeare Festival, The Austin Shakespeare Festival, Commission Theatre, Muse of Fire, The American Theatre Company, The University of Tennessee, Utah State University East, The Marriott Theatre, Chicago Youth Shakespeare, and many others. He was the Artistic Director of Commission Theatre in Chicago, IL and Assistant to the Artistic Director of the American Theatre Company under P.J. Paparelli. Proud member SDC. You can find pictures of his work at ConnerWilsonDirector.com.

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The quality of the mainstage SSC festival performances each year matches that of the many Shakespeare productions we’ve watched in much larger cities throughout England and the U.S. Tallahassee doesn’t know how lucky it is!

Dr. Sarah Lebhar Hall
Festival attendee
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My 19 year old granddaughter was smitten. Days after [the festival] she enthusiastically shared her experience of the evening with a group of youths who claimed “there’s nothing to do in Tallahassee”…Thanks for the encounter!

2021 audience member
festival attendee
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Thank you THANK YOU for bringing [the festival] back!!! My love of Shakespeare started because of that first [Southern Shakespeare] showing of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Thank you for bringing back one of my loveliest childhood memories.

Brittany Callens
festival attendee
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The set, the costumes, the actors and their excellent performance throughout the play all contributed to a feast for the eyes and ears. And for those who are hearing impaired, watching the signers convey the message and emotion was a treat!

Penny Davis
festival attendee
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I’ve seen a LOT of Shakespeare, both community and professional, and this show was hands down one of the best I have ever seen. Don’t miss out!

Rose Bennett
festival attendee