Hub City Theatre Company coordinating Jackson’s first Renaissance Festival; live performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet

By: Isabelle Puente

“To be, or not to be: that is the question”, you might be familiar with the famous quote from the Shakespeare play Hamlet. Hub City Theatre Company hopes that you’ll be at The Amp on October 31 attending ShakesFest.

After starting in 2021 with the goal of having odd shows in intimate spaces, Hub City Theatre Company is now working to coordinate Jackson’s first ever Renaissance Festival. The festival will have a live performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, local vendors, food trucks, a costume contest and a strolling minstrel.

Crista Beals, founder of HCTC, shared her thoughts on why a festival like this is important to the people of Jackson.

Crista Beals, founder of HCTC

“I think the art scene in Jackson has just really been growing, it has been so cool to see the murals, shows and just all the stuff is growing and happening all the time,” Beals said. “So people are turning out for things and I think downtown is seeing new life and new excitement so it’s just really cool to see people out and about, so I think this is just a natural next step for something big and cool.”

The event will also be free to attendants but Beals does highly encourage folks to have cash on hand if the they want to purchase something from the local vendors or food trucks. HCTC is hoping for a great turn out for ShakesFest this year with Beals noting that they plan on trying to make the festival and annual event. However, they are still working to meet their sponsorship goals in order to keep the festival at the scale they want it to be.

HCTC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to put on four performances each year.

This year their schedule consists of A Thing of Beauty, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Crossword Play and of course Hamlet. If you would like to support HCTC you can attend ShakesFest or one of their many shows. If you or someone you know are interested in helping sponsor ShakesFest, you can sign up on their website at https://www.hubcitytheatreco.com/.

(PHOTO: Crista Beals, founder of HCTC)