With summer upon us I can’t help but get excited for my favorite cultural event, outdoor Shakespeare festivals. Attending them religiously for the last few years I never sat down to truly understand why I love them so much more than a traditional theatre setting.
There is certain power and energy that being surrounded by nature gives a performance, especially for Shakespeare plays. Most of his plays reference nature, and there are several that are emerge completely in it. The audience can be more connected to the show when nature is referenced if in fact they are outside, enhancing their imagination and transporting them to a different place and time.
Every year more and more Shakespeare theaters are adding outdoor performances, and there have been some ongoing classics, like Shakespeare in the Park at Central Park in NYC, which started in 1957. Theaters are going back to their roots and basing the production around the theater of Dionysus, which was an amphitheatre that was on the water. This position was not a coincidence; it was in fact very well planned. With the water behind the players the wind pushed the air and sound to the audience creating a natural amplifier. Tahoe Shakes has a similar design and is perfect for shows that revolve around water like The Tempest or The Comedy of Errors. When seeing a show like Midsummer, which takes place completely within nature, one can smell the cool air, see the moon, feel the darkness and really be involved with characters- lost in dark woods and transported to a magical place.
The physical involvement with the show is much different when outside as well. Most of the time you are closer to the performers and on the same level as them, with this you are able to project yourself into the scenes, and it is easier for the performers to involve the audience with a much more relaxed setting. An interesting theater company that reinvents scene change, audience involvement and movement within the shows is the Gorilla Repertory Theater in Brooklyn. As the scenes change the audience moves with the performers through the park, using the landscape, benches, tress and even people walking their dogs as a set.
Outdoor theater is a great way to get people out of the stuffy theaters and into nature, and the best part about it - you are aloud to drink wine.
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