A Weekend with American Players Theatre, 2025

Mary Boyle, Ozaukee Living Local

This is my fourth year of making a three-day sojourn to American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin to see as many shows as I can fit in one weekend, and it has become a cherished summer tradition from the very first year. This season, APT offers eight plays on two stages: their outdoor theater known as The Hill and the intimate indoor Touchstone Theatre. Each season, I leave APT a different person, both because of the stories that have broken me open and because of the time spent in such a beautiful natural space, but this trip was the most transformative one yet.

Each season, APT produces at least two of Shakespeare’s works and, being a bit of a Shakespeare nerd, myself, these are usually the highlights of my trip. This year is the classic A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, directed by David Daniel, and THE WINTER’S TALE, directed by Shana Cooper, and I can say with certainty that both productions are the best versions of those plays I’ve yet to see.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM is so fitting at APT because it is set in the summer in the woods, just as in the play, and the woods of APT are truly a magical place, where the world of the faeries feels as close by as it is in the story. In fact, Midsummer was the first play produced at APT, with the late, great Jonathan Smoots as Oberon, King of the Faeries. I saw Smoots as the Duke of Athens in APT’s 2017 production of Midsummer, which was a lovely show, but this season’s reimagining brings an entirely new layer of magic that raises the story to new heights with the addition of two Pucks, played by Joshua M. Castille and Casey Hoekstra.

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