Utah Shakespeare Festival cancels 2020 season

The Utah Shakespeare Festival has canceled its 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The annual festival had announced a revised season April 13, but organizers determined there were too many obstacles to overcome to protect the health and safety of the festival’s staff, artists, audiences and community.

“This is a direct result of the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on performing arts,” said Frank Mack, executive producer. “When we announced our revised season, we indicated that we would cancel our season if we had to, and sadly it has come to that.”

The season had been planned for July 9 through Sept. 5 and was slated to feature five shows playing in rotating repertory and a free greenshow.

Festival organizers had explored several options to safely produce the season, including quarantining, testing and health monitoring for the seasonal staff and substantially limiting costuming and scenery, as well as measures for the audience such as seating 6 feet apart and extensive sanitizing.

Ultimately, challenges such as uncertainty in the virus’ contagion and the decision by the Actors’ Equity Association union to not extend contracts to professional theaters over safety concerns meant the annual event needed to be canceled.

Brian Vaughn, artistic director of the festival, which draws patrons from the Las Vegas Valley, said: “We look forward to safely gathering in 2021 for the Festival’s 60th anniversary season when we can join in unity to celebrate the history of magnificent artistry for which the Festival is known.”

Virtual programming will be announced soon. Organizers will contact all ticket holders for the 2020 season and provide full refunds.

Contact Janna Karel at jkarel@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jannainprogress on Twitter.