Interlochen Shakespeare Festival

Measure for Measure (2025)

Professional theatre under the pines

The Interlochen Shakespeare Festival engages northwest Michigan audiences through professional theatre that celebrates the Shakespearean imagination. 

Since its founding in 2008, the Interlochen Shakespeare Festival has presented more than 15 classical and contemporary plays and earned several Wilde Awards from Encore Michigan.

On stage this summer: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Silhouetted couple embracing and about to kiss in a flower-filled meadow beneath a glowing crescent moon. The dreamy golden sky is speckled with stars, while pink, white, and yellow blossoms frame the romantic scene. 
July 2, 3, 10 & 11     
Upton-Morley Pavilion

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Step into a world where reality slips and magic takes hold. Where lovers, royals, mischievous fairies, and unlikely performers collide in a dreamlike journey where chaos gives way to harmony. A Midsummer Night’s Dream celebrates the power of imagination, the pull of love, and the wonder just beneath the surface, inviting audiences of all ages to laugh, get lost, and rediscover the joy of imagination.

Our Venue

Interlochen Shakespeare Festival productions are staged at the Upton-Morley Pavilion, a 467-seat open-air venue nestled in a quiet corner of our campus. Under the starry summer skies, our audiences experience Shakespeare just as Elizabethan audiences would: surrounded by the majesty of nature.

"It’s not just the extraordinary script, direction, acting, and technical elements that make this Lear remarkable. As is always the case at the Interlochen Shakespeare Festival, it’s the way the production works with the natural outdoor setting to more fully bring this drama to life.”—Encore Michigan

Meet the Cast and Crew

Our critically acclaimed cast features Interlochen’s theatre faculty and recent graduates as well as professional guest performers from across the United States—many of whom are Interlochen alumni themselves. Recent Interlochen Shakespeare Festival performers have starred on Broadway and appeared on television and in films.

“There’s no small role here, and every actor truly plays his part to the hilt, with nary a dull spot in the bunch.”—Encore Michigan

Bill Church

William Church

Director of Theatre
Bill Church

William Church

Director of Theatre

William Church is the director of theatre at Interlochen Center for the Arts and serves as the artistic director for the Interlochen Shakespeare Festival, which he founded in 2008. Church has performed for theatre companies throughout the United States, including the American Repertory Theatre, California Theatre Center, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Publick Theatre, Hope Summer Repertory Theatre, and the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Recent performances include Scrooge in A Christmas Carol in Prose with Parallel 45; Captain Nick Flanagan in The Guys, Prospero in The Tempest, and Herr Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, all at Interlochen. His directing credits range from Shakespeare to contemporary work, including a touring children's theatre troupe he founded while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa. Directing credits at Interlochen include The Comedy of Errors, Julius Caesar, Othello, Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, and King Lear for the Shakespeare Festival; Hamlet, An American in Paris, The Winter's Tale, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, My Fair Lady, RENT, Amadeus, Spring Awakening, and West Side Story at the Academy; as well as several productions at Camp. Church is a member of Actors' Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. He has won multiple Wilde Awards for Best of the Bard for his professional Shakespeare productions and was named a Distinguished Teacher by the US Presidential Scholars Program. Church is a graduate of the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University, has an M.F.A. from the Moscow Art Theatre School, a B.F.A. from Webster University’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts, and is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy.

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Past Productions

A startled man in a feathered tan hat and colorful patterned shirt dramatically holds up a woman in a purple jacket and oversized sunglasses, while an older man in a vest and rolled-up sleeves confronts them onstage against a brick wall backdrop during a comedic scene from Measure for Measure.

Measure for Measure (2025)

4 people dancing in a line

Comedy of Errors (2024)

Interlochen Shakespeare production of Julius Caesar

Julius Cesar (2023)

A man sits next to a court jester

King Lear (2017)

a young man stands at a balcony in front of a young woman

Romeo and Juliet (2016)

three men stand before a figure in the trees

The Tempest (2014)

a photo of a man holding a skull

Hamlet (2013)

Our Accolades

The Interlochen Shakespeare Festival and its performers have frequently been recognized in the Encore Michigan’s Wilde Awards, which recognize the best theatre productions and performances in the state of Michigan. Our accolades include:

Upton-Morley Pavilion  

  • Top 10 Best Outdoor Theater Venues in the United States (Newsweek, 2025)

Othello (2022)

  • Winner, Best of the Bard

Richard III (2019) 

  • Winner, Best of the Bard

Much Ado About Nothing (2018) 

  • Nominee, Best of the Bard

King Lear (2017)

  • Winner, Best of the Bard
  • David Montee ("King Lear"), Winner, Best Performance of the Bard

As You Like It (2016) 

  • Nominee, Best of the Bard
  • David Montee ("Jacques"), Winner, Best Performance of the Bard

Shakespeare News at Interlochen

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A global destination for artists and arts enthusiasts, Interlochen Center for the Arts produces 600+ performances annually by celebrated guest artists, Interlochen students, and faculty.

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