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The Virginia Shakespeare Festival, for those involved, provides complete immersion into the world of Shakespeare.

It’s an opportunity actors don’t always get.

“These characters, they live in heightened worlds,” said cast member Joey Ibanez, a Washington, D.C.-based performer. “Being here allows myself to take it on a little more than if I was at home, and I had to check my mail every day.”

“Here, it’s very much like you can focus and live in the world more completely,” he said.

For the past several weeks, six days a week, eight or more hours a day, cast and crew have explored these heightened worlds. They wrapped performances of “Romeo and Juliet” over the weekend and will launch into “Cymbeline” on Thursday, continuing through July 24.

The second of three productions in Virginia Shakespeare Festival’s 38th anniversary season, “Cymbeline” is one of Shakespeare’s last plays and one rarely staged. The tale follows a forbidden love between Imogen, daughter of King Cymbeline of Britain, and Postumus, played by Ibanez.

Director Megan Behm, an alumna of the College of William and Mary, placed the production in a fantastical medieval setting, said festival director Christopher Owens, with intricate costumes and large-scale set pieces.

All cast members, save for the heroines in each production, perform in both productions. Many perform in different roles.

“Everybody who’s playing really serious roles in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ are playing clowns in ‘Cymbeline,'” said Tamara Johnson. Cast as the nurse in the former production, Johnson will now perform as the conniving queen in “Cymbeline.”

“It’s really fun to work on two productions, so close, back to back,” Ibanez said. “And it’s really fun to see different sides of the same actors.”

For Ibanez, the role of Mercutio in “Romeo and Juliet” was a test of wit, but as Postumus, he said he’s exploring heartbreak.

“It’s really interesting, intellectually and emotionally, to explore what it is that heartbreak means, and what would you do to save your marriage,” he said.

“And that’s solely my track. That’s the beautiful thing. There’s other things,” he said. ‘There’s other stories. There’s other stories within these stories.”

Bridges can be reached by phone at 757-345-2342.

Want to go?

When: 7:30 p.m., July 14-16 and 20-23; 2 p.m., July 17 and 24

Where: Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall, 601 Jamestown Road.

Tickets: $12-$30

Available by phone at 757-221-2674, online at wm.edu/boxoffice or in person at PBK Hall Box Office, 601 Jamestown Road. Box office hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday and noon-2 p.m., Sunday.