A Midsummer Night’s Dream will turn into a Midsummer Night’s Walk through the woods of Buffalo’s largest park Tuesday, as Shakespeare in Delaware Park returns for the 2021 summer season.
Health precautions against the coronavirus have forced theater companies to try variations on the usual stage and seat performances. One of the first of Western New York’s summer season was Alleyway Theatre’s Buffalo Quickies, where most of the action took place behind storefront windows while audiences wearing headphones watched from chairs on the sidewalk.
Shakespeare in Delaware Park usually sees its audience members shoulder-to-shoulder, sitting still on Shakespeare Hill. But when the company’s leadership realized they needed an alternative, they turned to three-time SDP director of A Midsummer Night’s Dream Kyle LoConti.
With help from long-time local Shakespeare actors Peter Palmisano and Tom Loughlin, LoConti came up with a re-imagined version of the play that requires the audience to move to where performers are staged throughout the park’s Rumsey Woods.
“We're taking groups of 25 out and there's a lot of explaining,” LoConti said. “Yes, you're walking. Yes, you have to wear shoes that you don't care if they get muddy. Yes, you're going to be out and around in the park and happening upon these different groups of people in different moments of the play. It's not the whole play.”
The play officially opens Tuesday, June 29 for small crowds with advanced reservations, and runs three nights a week through August 12.
Starting July 9, SDP will launch a touring production of Shakespeare and Love, with four performers exploring the Bard’s love stories on weekends through August 22 in locations across Erie and Niagara Counties.
Information and tickets are available at: shakespeareindelawarepark.org.
