Summer silliness with Shakespeare is on tap at Clark Park, and across region

Maybe given the very-happy-at-all-times nature of the news you might not feel the need to break out cackling at a bunch of silly fairies romping through West Philly s Clark Park in A Bottom s Dream a pop punk disco musical version of William Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream We planned this season before the voting and executive orders and forms of hate emerged commented Shamus McCarty producing art director of Shakespeare in Clark Park It feels like a great response to the establishment but it wasn t McCarty declared Strictly happenstance It s cool We have a drag queen Lili St Queer playing a fairy queen It s a joyful rock and roll disco in the park moment he stated Shakespeare abounds in July including this year s offering from Shakespeare in Clark Park which is celebrating its th anniversary season To recap Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream follows a myriad of mix-ups and gender-bending cross-purposes among four lovers Add to that a theater troupe of six amateur actors also at cross-purposes with both groups lost in the forest and being manipulated by fairies Also somehow there s a magic potion that turns people into half-donkeys bottom half or top half Titania Lili St Queer and Peaseblossom Amy Boehly lavish grapes upon an enchanted Bottom Camille E Young Samuel Vargas Shakespeare in Clark Park Donkeys as in ass That s Shakespeare s joke McCarty noted As for the name A Bottom s Up take it as you wish It s meant to tweak your ear as in ooh la la In this unapologetically queer rendition of the Shakespeare comedy A Bottom s Dream plays with all the elements There s a big conversation about gender diversity and what it means to tell a story about gender diversity with by and for a gender-diverse audience and neighborhood without it focusing on trauma McCarty stated But it s aggravating McCarty stated that dependably reliably perpetually trauma seems to be a requirement Is it really a story if it s not about trauma he sought sarcastically Where s the queer pleasure Where is the trans happiness The enjoyment is at Clark Park in A Bottom s Dream with book music and lyrics from Boston playwright Jay Eddy McCarty revealed he prefers to be involved in new theatrical works But as someone who has spent a lot of time in the world of William Shakespeare McCarty explained why he finds a template for the fresh and new in the work of a playwright who lived more than years ago True Shakespeare doesn t sound like a fit for me on paper he stated But interestingly Shakespeare s plays come with scarce to no stage directions producing an immediate blank canvas for innovation McCarty announced Because it s in the constituents domain you can cut it whatever way you want It feels like a new story he disclosed The lack of stage directions and the lack of legal requirements create an ability to embrace it as a new text Forbidden lovers Hermia Amy Boehly and Lysandra Camille E Young steal a tender moment under the trees of Clark Park Samuel Vargas Shakespeare in Clark Park A Bottom s Dream with a seven-member cast and public chorus runs July - at p m at Clark Park Bring your own blanket picnic children and animals for the performances which are all free If it rains head to Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania Walnut Street Need more Shakespeare Plan a day trip to Philly s outskirts and pencil in particular time for the bard Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival DeSales University Center Valley Looking for an all-day Shakespeare extravaganza Mark your calendar for July at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival on the campus of DeSales University which is in the Lehigh Valley near Allentown The day begins at a m with Shakespeare For Kids S K on the calendar It s a one-hour mash-up of Shakespeare s characters designed as a gateway drug for kids - Hamlet is next at p m followed by a p m choice of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead or Timon of Athens There s even a specialty dinner Savoring Shakespeare with the menu curated to match the productions Here s guessing that the menu will be Danish-centric as both Hamlet and Rosencrantz are set in Denmark If July doesn t work there s Shakespeare all July long Philly s own Lindsay Showing contentment a co-artistic director at Wilma Theater directs Hamlet Tom Stoppard s comedy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead focuses on the lives of two minor Hamlet characters courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Timon is a rarely produced Shakespeare play about a rich man who squanders money on his freeloading friends until they abandon him when his largesse runs out You can bring a picnic order a catered picnic basket or dine at the festival s restaurant with an option to enjoy specific specialty meals Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Hamlet July -Aug Shakespeare For Kids July -Aug Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead July -Aug and Timon of Athens July -Aug Theaters are on the campus of DeSales University Station Ave Center Valley Nearby attractions if you go Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Area Thursdays Fridays and Saturdays Get the garlic ring bologna W Chew St Allentown Lehigh Valley Zoo a modest zoo coupled with Trexler Contest Preserve a park with hiking trails that may take you near bison The zoo and preserve share an address Championship Preserve Rd Schnecksville Delaware Shakespeare Rockwood Park Wilmington In the spirit of Shakespearean innovation Delaware Shakespeare is urgent ground on two fronts Philly mainstays Liz Filios and Tanaquil M rquez teamed up to create a bilingual and musical version of Twelfth Night titled Twelfth Night O Lo Que Quieras M rquez who specializes in creating bilingual works dependably aims to make the meaning clear no matter what language is being used on stage In his much-loved comedy Shakespeare provides the usual and entertaining mishmash of switched genders and star-crossed love The shows take place in Rockwood Park and if you time it right you can take guided or self-guided tours of the formal gardens and the museum which is a th century historic house Free tours available on Aug Delaware Shakespeare Twelfth Night O Lo Que Quieras July -Aug Rockwood Park Washington Street Extension Wilmington Nearby attractions if you go Winterthur Museum Garden and Library Henry Francis DuPont s lavish home and gardens with miles of trails paths and lush gardens as well as a collection of objects from furniture to paintings Kennett Pike Wilmington DE Brandywine Zoo a five-acre family-friendly zoo N Park Dr Wilmington The post Summer silliness with Shakespeare is on tap at Clark Park and across region appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY