In 1973 Hazel Robinson founded The Montford Park Players, North Carolina’s longest running Shakespeare Festival. For many years she was director of the group, presiding over around 150 volunteers each summer to bring Shakespeare and other classic plays to the community. Performances took place in the municipal park on Montford Avenue until 1983 when the city completed a new theatre for the group near Riverside Cemetery. In 1997 the group celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary with a performance of “As You Like It,” directed by Hazel Robinson. The Asheville City Council, in recognition of Robinsons contribution to the community, renamed the outdoor theater the “Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre.” In this photo by Mary Jo Brezny, Hazel Robinson helps actor Bill Underwood with his costume.
