Best Toast To the Bard

editors' pick: Ohio Shakespeare Festival’s ShakesBeer

Hast thou been intimidated by Shakespeare? Then get thee to ShakesBeer! “It has been called the ‘gateway’ Shakespeare,” says Tess Burgler, managing director of the Ohio Shakespeare Festival, the professional company with a theater in Greystone Hall in downtown Akron. With the cast wearing street clothes, carrying scripts and sometimes walking on top of the bar, the Bard’s words come to vivid life through their playful interpretations. And with the audience laughing, singing along and buying drinks for the troupe, it definitely feels like being among the groundlings at the Globe. But it’s not “Shakespeare light,” Burgler assures. “You still get all the words, the story, but it’s accessible for everyone.” So whether you’ve never read a single couplet or you’re a Jacobean scholar, this is the place to experience the Bard as he would’ve liked it, with irreverence and joy. Huzzah! ohioshakespearefestival.com

Greystone Hall, 103 S. High St., Akron

See the readers' voting results for Best of the City 2018 here.