Shall I Compare Thee To a
Summer’ s Play?
by Monalisa Tailor, MD
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears...
Thanks to my sophomore English class, I will quote Mark Antony’ s eulogy to Caesar for a very long time. That was one of my first experiences with Shakespeare and it was formative. At UK, my honors classes would help me learn more Shakespeare classics like The Tempest, Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing. These were classes and required reading. But they stuck with me. Fast forward to residency here and being introduced to Shakespeare in the Park. One of my first trips was with clinical psychologist, Kerstin Knopf at UofL Palliative Care. Here were Shakespeare’ s plays, as they are meant to be, in an outdoor theater, open and available to all( just like the Globe Theater, but there is no fee to pay here).
The Kentucky Shakespeare Festival is the longest running unticketed festival of its kind in the U. S. The first trio of summer shows date back to 1961. In 2026, this looks like three shows in May / June / July accompanied by a ballet and a show by high school students. This summer the plays include As You Like it, Antony and Cleopatra and Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Since residency, it’ s become a tradition for me: taking dinner, a blanket and finding a spot to watch a Shakespearean play in the summer. Now, I admit I have to refresh myself with Wikipedia on the
30 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
Shakespeare play before I go. It helps me refresh what happened and the characters’ names. It’ s always fun to find other Shakespeare enthusiasts, like Drs. Catherine Newton and Gordon Strauss, Dr. Wayne and Brenda Tuckson, Dr. Kelly Clark, Dr. Yvette Cua, Dr. Cindy Rigby, Dr. Susan Bornstein, Dr. Kelley McIntyre, Dr. Ruth Simons, Dr. Jeffrey Goldberg, Drs. Robb and Anna Shrader, Dr. Geeta Ganesh, just to name a few. You can come and go as you please or make a date night of it. Kids are welcome and free to explore the area before the show starts( there’ s a playground too!).
Lastly, the best part is that KY Shakespeare employs local actors for the production. Now when the company is not touring, they are educating at local schools with special productions on history and Shakespeare. They also do productions in the library and have scheduled The Tempest at 46 parks this spring!
Louisville is truly a unique city, and we should celebrate these experiences that are truly one of a kind. Shakespeare in the Park is one of them. Come out this summer and experience a show. You may garner a new understanding of an old and timeless tale. For a full rundown of programs, visit www. KyShakespeare. com.
Dr. Tailor is a practicing internal medicine physician at Norton Community Medical Associates: Barret.