The Aapricity Podcast Episode 4: Kate Mendeloff, Creator and Artistic Director of Shakespeare in the Arb - What We Can Learn from Theater

by Maggie Cease

Thanks for joining me for the fourth episode of the Aapricity Podcast! My guest on today’s show is Professor Kate Mendeloff, creator and artistic director of Shakespeare in the Arb. Now in it’s 16th year, Shakespeare in the Arb takes place each June, when community members perform one of Shakespeare’s plays in various parts of Nichols Arboretum.

This year’s play is Love’s Labour’s Lost, and it opens Thursday, June 9th with three performances a week for the next three weeks. If you’re interested in finding out more about this year’s performance, go to lsa.umich.edu/mbg.

Just a note: nearly every performance of Shakespeare in the arb has sold out, and tickets are only sold day-of on a first-come, first-serve basis. So if you’re in the Ann Arbor area and interested in seeing it, arrive early! The box office opens at 5:30p each day.

During my conversation with Kate, we talk about how Shakespeare in the Arb began, what it means to perform outdoors, what happens when new and experienced actors work together, Kate’s other work as a professor at the Residential College at the University of Michigan, what it is about Shakespeare and theater that keeps her doing the work she does, and a whole lot more. 

Please enjoy my conversation with Kate!