Much Ado About Dinosaurs - Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival

Much Ado About Dinosaurs opens at the Great Arizona Puppet Theater on Friday, October 16, and runs through October 25. It's a puppet production from the Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival, and the show blends STEM elements with Shakespeare in an interactive adventure. The play was written by Matthew Windham, the same mind behind Simply Silly Shakespeare and the award-winning Shakespeare on Pluto. He describes it as a colorful, interactive original for audiences of all ages and geological eras, promising laughter, learning, and a whole lot of Jurassic joy.

The production is staged by the Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival, a professional company founded in 2015 and led by Executive Director Dawn Tucker and Artistic Committee member Julie Hammonds. They specialize in Shakespeare and other classic playwrights, with a focus on new, actor-driven work and "Original Staging Practices"—which means they prefer open-air staging when possible, actor-driven performances, and live music. Their mission is to foster empathy, literacy, and community through theater, and they do a lot of outreach with theater for young audiences and senior centers.

There are plenty of showtimes to choose from over the next couple of weekends. It opens Friday, October 16, at 7 PM, then runs Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18, with 10 AM and 2 PM shows both days. It returns the following weekend on Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25, again with 10 AM and 2 PM performances. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish for all shows, so you can decide what to give. You'll find the Great Arizona Puppet Theater at 302 W Latham St, Phoenix, AZ 85003.