Top row: Caleb Mathura as Hephaestus, American Players Theatre’s Macbeth, Forward Theater Company’s Two Steps Forward. Bottom row: Capital City Theater’s On the Town, Summit Players Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet, Four Seasons Theatre’s Disney’s The Little Mermaid.
The reward for persevering through Wisconsin’s winters is its summers. This is as true for outdoors enthusiasts as it is for arts lovers. This summer, theater looks forward and back with classics, updates of classics and bold new works.
Classics and new works, indoors and out
Grab a picnic, a bottle of wine and some bug spray and get thee to Spring Green for at least one of American Players Theatre’s nine productions, presented in rotating repertory, beginning June 8. Audiences come from far and wide to see APT’s interpretations of classics — and lately, more contemporary works with classic themes. Whether you thrill to watching the sun go down and the stars come out up the hill, or you prefer settling in indoors at the more intimate Touchstone Theatre, the company never disappoints.
A new generation of the APT core company members is taking on Macbeth, with Marcus Truschinski as the haunted Thane of Glamis and Melisa Pereyra as his calculating wife. Back on the APT stage after a 14-year hiatus, it’s one of Shakespeare’s greatest explorations of unbridled ambition, bloody betrayal and fate versus free will. The play is directed by James DeVita, who played the title role in 2005.
The first Ibsen production at APT in two decades, the landmark A Doll’s House examines the personal and societal expectations of Nora and Torvald Helmer, two people bound by contracts they can’t fulfill. Blackmail, lies and love triangles lead to a conclusion that was shocking for its time. See Kelsey Brennan and Nate Burger as the main characters who discover the truth — and the inequality — of their marriage
In The Book of Will, the actors of the King’s Men are getting back together to make sure the scripts of their friend William Shakespeare are preserved for future generations. It’s a daunting challenge for a group of aging actors who are familiar with iambic pentameter, but know nothing of the publishing world. Of course we know how their quest turns out, but Lauren Gunderson’s script illustrates how close we were to losing all of the Bard’s original plays. It’s fan fiction by one of America’s most popular playwrights, about one of the greatest playwrights of all time.
And then she came back. In A Doll’s House 2, years after Nora shocked her family — and audiences — by declaring her independence and leaving to strike out on her own, Nora returns home. Lucas Hnath’s sequel finishes some conversations between Nora and her husband and children once and for all. It’s a provocative and surprisingly funny debate about the roles people choose and those they’re forced to play. Just two years after its Broadway debut, APT takes on this final Helmer family chapter, featuring Colleen Madden as Nora and James DeVita as Torvald.
Bronx = up, Battery = down
The energetic musical On the Town follows three sailors on a 24-hour pass exploring the Big Apple in 1944. The music of Leonard Bernstein will be paired with the talents of the Madison Ballet and New York director/choreographer Josh Walden. With lead roles filled with stage veterans of national tours and Broadway shows, Capital City Theater is hoping that you will agree, “New York, New York! It’s a helluva town!” It runs May 30–June 2 at the Capitol Theater at the Overture Center.
It was the nightingale, and not the lark
Summit Players Theatre brings Shakespeare to audiences of all ages on makeshift stages in state parks across Wisconsin. Now in its fifth season, this summer company presents its first tragedy — Romeo and Juliet. With six actors; simple costume pieces worn over t-shirts, jeans and Converse shoes; an accessible and engaging 75-minute adaptation of the tale of star-crossed lovers; as well as popular pre-show workshops; the company will hit the campgrounds June through August. Near Madison, the troupe will be at Blue Mound State Park on June 23 and Lake Kegonsa State Park on July 20.
Singular voices
Forward Theater Company’s monologue festival is back for one weekend only, June 20-23, in Overture’s Promenade Hall. Two Steps Forward showcases world premiere short plays by playwrights from Madison and across the country. Planned to commemorate the centennial of women receiving the right to vote, Two Steps Forward also addresses the subjects of immigration, LGTBQ history, electoral politics, race and sexual freedom.
Farcical aquatic ceremony
A beautiful young mermaid named Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above, preferably with the handsome Prince Eric. But what price will she pay for becoming human? Four Seasons Theatre heads “under the sea” for its live-action version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, June 21-23 at Shannon Hall in the UW Memorial Union. This coincides with the 30th anniversary of the classic animated film. Olivia de Waart performs the title role, longing to be “Part of Your World.”
Beta testing complete
In 2018, Music Theatre of Madison held a workshop performance of a new musical by Madison native Nathan Fosbinder. Audiences gave their feedback, and the creative team worked diligently on its next iteration. Now it’s time to see the finished product! The first full staging to come out of the Wisconsin New Musicals Cycle, Hephaestus meshes soaring contemporary music and the Greek traditions of comedy and tragedy, August 16-24 at the UW Memorial Union Play Circle.
