No Holds Bard, UpstART Theater’s Shakespeare arm, has brought productions to Ouray County since 2006, and has cast both urban professionals and Ouray locals since its beginnings. Its mission, according to the website, is to perform “Shakespeare as he intended it.” It promises “fun, interactive, entertainments the whole family will enjoy.”

Through close examination of his original, unedited texts, and exploration of the original performance conditions of Shakespeare’s company, No Holds Bard performs Shakespeare as you’ve never seen it before: the way Shakespeare’s own actors did it. We perform in general light, with minimal sets, with great, fast-paced, energetic acting and lots of audience interaction.

Our shows are extremely physical, totally accessible, often wild community events: more like a great championship sports game than a fusty theater production. Shakespeare’s audiences didn’t have to be English Ph.D.’s to have a great time at his plays. They were popular entertainments; the Globe was the multiplex of his day.

Director John Kissingford writes about the cast:
We have a marvelous mix of professional and local actors on stage. Ian Lassiter, whose career includes roles at the Cort, AAirlines and Lincoln Center theaters on Broadway as well as the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre London, stars as the tragic Moor; Ridgway School (and St. John’s College) graduate Elizabeth Mueller is his Desdemona. Jake Abell, Mitch Slevc, Skylar Sprague, Elle Metrick, Heather Toth, and Nate, Kate, and John Kissingford return in various roles; and Coralie Lyford and Dave Olson join the NHB ensemble for the first time. What fun!