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The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre Summer Festival is alive and well.

AST kicked off 2013 with the opening performance of "Much Ado About Nothing" earlier this month at the Village at Hendrix and several more productions and performances are lined up for the rest of June.

"King Lear, "A Midsummer's Night Dream" and "Oliver!" are among the lineup and what's great is that shows have an intimate indoor atmosphere at UCA’s Reynolds Performance Hall by seating the audience onstage with the action.

Tickets are $27 apiece for each performance. Buy tickets here.

The festival will also be offering a few performances closer to Little Rock -- North Little Rock, in fact.

"Much Ado About Nothing" will be performing on 5th Street between Main and Maple Streets at 7:30 p.m. Friday (June 21). Wit and wisecracks fly as Shakespeare’s most beloved bickering couple, Beatrice and Benedick, find love where they least expect it.  The show continues at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (June 22) at 7:30 p.m. All performances are pay what you can.

AST, based in the heart of Arkansas, produces a selection of the Bard’s plays, along with other productions, in its summer festival in Conway. AST, which has been featured in the New York Times, is also a major educational force in Arkansas, providing performance and production opportunities for central Arkansas school children and and college students at the University of Central Arkansas.

The festival continues through June 30. For ticket prices, a complete performance schedule and more information, click here.