Fairies, sprites, and other Shakespearean characters could be coming to a park near you.
For its second year, the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company is hosting its “Shakespeare Beyond” series, with free performances of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” in Maryland parks.
“This is a beautiful, accessible, magical and fun story that works really well in an outdoor setting,” said Séamus Miller, the production’s director and CSC’s Associate Artistic Director. “The play itself is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, and one that audience members might have some familiarity with, but we wanted to take a show that people may or may not know and add another layer of fun and excitement and accessibility to it.”
The theater company will pair the Shakespearean classic with a Motown score, featuring music from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s performed by a live band.
Miller said Motown music has a strong historical connection to Baltimore, so it was a natural fit for “Midsummer.”
“I think it is particularly relevant for our audience as we go through different parks around Baltimore City,” he said. “And it was a chance for us to celebrate amazing Black American musicians and that tradition. We have a predominantly Black cast, and we wanted to showcase that musical style and that genre for the tour this year.”
The cost of attending theatrical performances can be prohibitive for some would-be audience members. That’s why CSC felt it was important to offer these performances for free and in an accessible, community space like a park, Miller said.
“I always bring up what I call the loaf of bread principle, which is that in Shakespeare’s England, if you went to go see the first production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in 1595 that ticket price was one penny, which was the same cost as the price of a loaf of bread,” he said. “Nowadays, tickets for theater can be $60 or $80 or $100 which is not necessarily enough to pay for the price of the production, but it is enough money to keep a lot of people away. We’re trying to avoid that and undercut that and provide something that is professional and really high quality, but also free and in public and accessible to everybody.”
Hosting the performances outdoors also offers a unique setting for this production.
“Within the story, the lovers run away from the court and the city and their parents and have this magical, transformational journey into the woods,” Miller explained. “So a big part of the action of the play is going away from the city and out into nature. The magic and hilarity that ensues is really that of the natural world and not of the human world.”
He added, “They’re also getting away from the indoors and their devices and our heavily digital, disconnected world, and going outside and having this analog, in-person, communal experience that can be quite moving and effective and helps us connect as a community outside together in the city that we live in.”
CSC visits parks with its “Shakespeare Wagon,” a truck that has been retrofitted for its sides to open out and have the stage built from the interior of the vehicle. The setup takes about 90 minutes, and can be taken down just as quickly, making it easy for the theater company to travel throughout Baltimore and beyond.
The first performance of this year’s “Shakespeare Beyond” series took place in Carroll Park, in southwest Baltimore. Miller said the turnout was beyond what they anticipated.
“We didn’t know how many people to expect at Carroll Park, and we wound up having almost 200 audience members show up for the opening performance,” he said. “It’s very fun and informal. Some guests brought a crab feast to have outside during the show and that’s absolutely fine with us.”
The next performance will take place Thursday, July 11 (tonight) at Martin Luther King Jr. Rec Park in Silver Spring, with ASL interpretation. Performances will run through Aug. 2 at parks across the Baltimore and D.C. areas.
For a full list of performance locations and dates (including raindates), click here.
