There are a lot of new things going on at Nashville Shakespeare Festival. The 37-year-old festival has a new artistic director, Jason Spelbring, who’s beginning his first year at the artistic helm with a summer production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. The company has also introduced a new season that will present a couple of innovative contemporary plays (including James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fat Ham) that riff off Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In this episode of MACC Talk, NSF Executive Director Isabel Tipton-Krispin joins host John Pitcher to talk about Shakespeare, Nashville’s art scene and much more. The episode is sponsored by Chef’s Market.

Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s The Merry Wives of Windsor runs Thursdays through Sundays Aug. 28 to Sept. 21, 2025 ( and Labor Day Sept. 1) at the Yard at oneCITY, City Blvd, Nashville, TN 37209. Gates open at 5:15 p.m.; insight lecture series at 5:30 p.m.; Tennessean pre-show concert at 6 p.m.; performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor at 7 p.m. Admission is pay-what-you-will ($10 suggested donation).

