The Historic Rialto Theater, located at 209 W. Main St. in Florence, has partnered with the Jones Theater in Westcliffe to bring the first performance of a Shakespeare play, "Measure for Measure," to Fremont County at 2 p.m. Sunday.
This is the first time a Fremont County theater has partnered with the Westcliffe-based Jones Theater and both organizations are excited for the prospect. The synergistic relationship evolved when members of the Jones Theater ensemble attended a volunteer event hosted by the Rialto in January and kismet was struck when leaders of each theater began corresponding.
"We were really impressed with their energy and their level of enthusiasm for the Rialto Theater, and so we said, 'We would really like to bring a production over and they said yes,'" said the Jones Theater Program Manager Elliot Jackson.
"It's always really exciting to talk to someone running another historic theater because it can be hard and unusual ... it's nice to talk to other people and ask, 'How would you handle this?' or 'How would you handle that?,'" added Rialto Theater Board President Carolyn Solseth. "It's become a partnership and, hopefully, a friendship where we help each other."
The Jones Theater is well-known for its "Shakespeare in the Sangres" series and the play "Measure for Measure" was specifically selected as the first production to be shared between companies. The play, which is set in Vienna, explores themes of liberty and justice and is sure to provide a rousing display for attendees.
"We started talking about which production would go where and we decided our Shakespeare production would be the most portable, we literally have basically no set so we thought it would be great to bring Shakespeare to Florence," Jackson said.
The Jones Theater will have performances throughout July and early August but will have a special performance at the Rialto Theater on Sunday. Because of the near non-existence of a set, performers from the Jones Theater will travel to Florence on Saturday and do their walk-through and prepare to bring The Bard to Fremont County.
A cast of 16 talented actors will grace the stage, supported by at least two stage crew and multiple Rialto volunteers, and both Solseth and Jackson can't wait to showcase the coalition.
"We have found that people in Fremont County are very open to something completely different," Solseth said. "Our hope is that people will be very excited about this. Westcliffe is famous for their Shakespeare series, and I think a lot of people know that so I think people are going to be excited about it."
Moving forward, Solseth and the board of the Rialto Theater look forward to going through their production logs to find a suitable and fun play to share with the Jones Theater. Solseth said the Red Brick Players, based at the Rialto, are enthusiastic about the developing partnership and the prospect of traveling as a performing company is a sort of dream come true for many of them.
Tickets for the Rialto performance on Sunday are available at City Market, Big D's Superfoods, Treasures Too, online, and at the box office at the theater. Ticket prices are $15 for adults, $12 for students and military, and $5 for children 12 and under.
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