Liz Lauren
The renovations maintained the original charm but increased flexibility for cast and crew.
As American Players Theatre worked its way through a fourth decade, it faced a challenge. The Spring Green theater needed to improve acoustics, safety and accessibility while still preserving the essence of the classical theater nestled in the woodsy hills of southwestern Wisconsin.
Renovations began immediately after the close of the 2016 season, with the removal of the stage. Construction crews have since worked diligently to complete the improvements to the lobby, amphitheater and backstage areas.
The first notable changes, after the familiar hike up the wooded path, are to the open-air lobby. The carpet of wood chips has been replaced by flagstone and crushed granite, with a small patch of honey locust trees planted in the center. The paving of the hill crown is not purely an aesthetic choice. These changes make the theater far more maneuverable for people with disabilities.
Until this last season, people in wheelchairs were confined to a boardwalk that stretched from far house right, where the only accessible seating could be found, to the bathrooms/concessions area. Paving also makes it easier for audience members with crutches, walkers or anyone else who finds wood chips awkward to travel upon.
With the lobby now entirely accessible, APT can open up the top of the aisles to accessible seating. Previously, the only accessible seats were subject to direct sunlight during matinees.
Patrons sitting in the back rows of the house will not only be protected from the sun, but also from the rain. Elegant scooping overhangs now line both theater and lobby sides of the wall. This, according to Sara Young, APT’s director of communications, has more than doubled the sheltered areas of the lobby. It is estimated that more than 1,000 people, or roughly the capacity of the theater, could seek shelter during a downpour.
The design of the overhangs does not overpower the theater; it remains an open-air space. However, the additions also bolster the space’s acoustics. Director John Lang, whose production of this year’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream is his seventh play on top of the hill, says that the greatest improvement is the sound. “Actors can now give more subtle and layered performances. The audience may or may not notice the differences, but the effect will be more dynamic.”
Audience members will likely notice the more obvious changes to the actual stage, which was torn out in its entirety last October and completely rebuilt. “Five years ago, contractors informed us that the stage was becoming unsafe [and] not able to bear the weight of the scenery,” says Young, adding that the company bolstered the structure with cables and steel bracing as a temporary solution. “We were told ‘You have five years,’ so this was kind of the deadline.”
The rebuilt stage utilizes a steel structure rising from a much stronger foundation beneath the stage. It also opens up the “pit” area beneath the stage so that trap doors can be placed anywhere, providing more flexibility for directors and actors. “Ophelia has always been buried in that same spot upstage right,” says Young. Now, Ophelia can make her final exit almost anywhere.
The new stage is more stripped down than its predecessor. The upper platform is gone, and the entrances are more open, but this alteration will make the space more malleable for the designers. The gateways to the stage are taller and wider, so that much larger set pieces can be loaded in. A staircase, which in the past had to be assembled out of three pieces so it could be fit through the doors, can now be rolled in as one piece. When there is only a one-hour turnover between matinee and evening performances, this makes all the difference to the stage crew. The backstage storage area has tripled in size, which will make transitions smoother and sets more elaborate.
The backstage is now also paved so people don’t step straight from the stage onto a sloping forest floor. This benefits both the crew’s quick changes, and also cast members, who often must wear period footwear not ideal for walking in the woods.
The only thing that is noticeably — and sadly — missing is the canopy of trees that once rose up behind the stage. It had to be removed to allow construction and to secure the grade of the slope. A variety of trees have been planted on the hill, chosen because they will grow tall or spread out quickly, so that in a few years the canopy will return.
With all the improvements, the Hill Theatre — which has always been a glorious space, even if it was weakly built — is finally equal to the talents of its actors, designers and technicians.
