Our Most Merry Fairytale

What better way to start off your summer than with the play that started it all? A sparkling and poetic pop-up book, bursting across the sylvan Hill stage, propelled by magic, romance and the very best kind of mischief. This merry chase is led by a delightful pair of Pucks, as humankind and fairykind alike head to the woods in search of their best selves. And we do the same. Because Midsummer is, above all, a celebration of humanity at its finest; a playground for actors and audience alike. Bring your kids, your kin, your fun-loving friends. This story was built to be experienced alongside your favorite people, beneath a vast and star-strewn sky. Partake, and be merry. Runs June 7 - October 5.

Featuring: Nate Burger, Joshua Castille, Maggie Cramer, Jim DeVita, Tim Gittings, Casey Hoekstra, Josh Krause, Elizabeth Ledo, Sam Luis Massaro, Samantha Newcomb, James Ridge, Marcus Truschinski

A NOTE: Pieces of this production will be performed using American Sign Language (ASL), while remaining accessible to hearing audiences. For information on accessibility, including ASL interpreted and captioned performances, visit americanplayers.org/accessibility.

Synopsis

Love weaves a tangled web in this iconic Shakespearean fairy tale. Hermia and her beloved Lysander flee into the forest to avoid Hermia’s arranged marriage to Demetrius. They’re pursued by Demetrius himself, along with Helena, who is, in turn, in love with Demetrius. In that same forest, Oberon and Titania – king and queen of the fairies – are having a quarrel of their own. And when Oberon enlists his accomplice Puck, aka Robin Goodfellow to throw some magic into the mix, everyone - including a hilarious group of “rude mechanicals” led by Nick Bottom – gets caught up in the spell.

Season Select: A Midsummer Night's Dream
By Erin Milleville

Portable Prologue: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Apple Podcasts)

Portable Prologue: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Spotify)

APT's A Midsummer Night's Dream Teaser
Video by Hannah Jo Anderson

Full Circle

Twenty-six years ago, I said my first word on the APT stage: "Relent." And neither I nor APT has relented since then. I was Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream, with Jim Ridge as Puck, Tracy Michelle Arnold as Titania and the grand leading man himself, Jonathan Smoots, as Oberon.

Jonathan spoke the first word ever uttered at APT: "Now." Today, we get to say them again, in the year of his passing. This very bittersweet symmetry reminds me that theater, like life, moves in cycles of remembrance and renewal.

APT, like Midsummer, like any great story, allows us to step out of our routines—our jobs, our habits, our normal lives—and taste some midsummer magic and madness under the stars. Shakespeare's characters come to the woods and are transformed by what they find there. We too are transformed when we come out to our little theater in the woods—and when we return to our jobs, our habits, our lives, a little bit of that magic stays with us. I know that the magic (and madness) that was Jonathan Smoots will stay with me forever—his wisdom, his generosity, his passion for this sacred space of storytelling.

As you watch our production tonight, nestled in this beautiful rural Wisconsin landscape, I hope you feel what I felt when I first performed here—wonder, possibility, and connection to something timeless. These woods have witnessed countless transformations by artists and audiences alike. I hope that a little bit of our magic, our madness, stays with you after you leave tonight. I hope you get to see the world anew, to love more deeply and to carry a spark of enchantment back into your everyday life.

Now. Welcome to the woods. Welcome to the dream.

-David Daniel, Director of A Midsummer Night's Dream