Six years ago, shortly after Lakewood resident Cally Bybee moved to Dallas from New York City, she opened the paper one day to find an ad for the Shakespeare Festival.
Bybee, who’d gotten her Bachelor’s degree in English, had written her thesis on Shakespeare. She’d also, she says, been “almost religious” about going to NYC’s Shakespeare in the Park every year.
“So when I moved here and I saw that ad in the paper, I thought, ‘Wow, Dallas has it as well,’” she says now.
That realization would lead to a long-term love affair with Dallas’ summertime Shakespeare offerings that recently culminated with Bybee being appointed to the festival’s board.
She is one of two Lakewood residents – the other is Rob House – who serve on the board.
“I went every summer, and I thought it was a fantastic organization,” says Bybee, who works as a creative director and copywriter at Richards Group. “And I just happened to run into someone at the agency who was on the board.
“When I came here I was looking for a way to get involved in Dallas , and this combined my passion for Shakespeare and my love for the arts.”
Bybee’s board appointment has recently led to a rather interesting project: developing a ‘mascot’ for the summer festival.
“It’s something I’m really excited about,” she says of the character’s creation. “We wanted to convey Shakespeare and the park in a really approachable and friendly way. So he’s a squirrel who lives in the park and has gotten infused with the spirit of Shakespeare. He’s got the Shakespeare [Elizabethan] collar on. He lives in park and, obviously, he watches all the shows.
“His name is Horatio. He’s really cute,” she adds.
House, the other Lakewood board member, has also done some design work for the Shakespeare Festival. As owner of Visualeyes, he’s helped to create an identity for the festival that is separate from the organization’s other year-round activities (they tour the Metroplex’s school and introduce Shakespeare plays, and Raphael Parry, the artistic director, is also laying the groundwork for winter productions).
Bybee and House say they are excited about this season’s offerings: Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet (put on by the festival’s teenage Junior Players). But they’re also just happy to see the “show going on,” as House puts it.
“It’s really tough right now to be an arts organization in Dallas,” Bybee adds, “and I think it’s fantastic we’ve pulled through it … that we’re still doing shows and are still in the schools.”
But, given the experience that has left them eagerly anticipating the festival’s opening each year, they’re not that surprised.
“It’s just an awesome experience; a really nice night out and really different,” Bybee says. “And there’s a real community aspect to it. It’s in the neighborhood. People get out, spread out a blanket, bring a bottle of wine.”
Best of all, she says, “it shows that the arts are alive here in Dallas.”
