About WSF

 The 2009 productions of As You Like It and Richard III will mark the Woodward Shakespeare Festival’s fifth season of producing the works of William Shakespeare.

The Woodward Shakespeare Festival began as the conception of S. Eric Day and Brandon Weis, two local actors who, in the fall of 2001, saw the potential for a season of plays produced outdoors in a festival environment, and which would be free and accessible to all.

By 2004, Christien Sweeney had come aboard and Day and Sweeney helmed the productions of the first two seasons, Much Ado About Nothing & Romeo and Juliet (2005), and then A Midsummer Night's Dream & Macbeth (2006). By 2007, the organization had become a non-profit organization in the public trust and the summer festival averaged 10,000 patrons each year.

Since its inaugural season, The Woodward Shakespeare Festival has been committed to that original conception, producing two of Shakespeare’s plays each year in Fresno’s Woodward Park:

2005: Much Ado About Nothing & Romeo and Juliet

2006: A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream & Macbeth

2007: Othello & Taming of the Shrew

2008: Twelfth Night & Hamlet

Now in its fifth year, The Woodward Shakespeare Festival has grown into a grassroots civic organization of great recognition. Now, with an expanded board, an Artistic Director hired, and Program Manager on staff, the Festival has set its trajectory for tremendous growth in the next decade.

The Festival thanks the many people who have made our first four seasons successful: the casts and crews, the audiences, our patrons, the critics, the corporate sponsors and community partners. Your enthusiasm for our labors and your passion for our mission are the inspiration for all that we do and that which we dream to do.