Golf course becomes theater for Shakespeare
Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival to stage 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
Posted: September 15, 2011 - 3:04pm
By Bill Blankenship
THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
ST. MARYS — A golf course by day again will become a theater at night when the Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival stages its second annual production, perhaps the Bard's most popular comedy, "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
The comedy, with its three interlocking plots, including a play within a play, will be produced on an outdoor stage lit by electric spotlights and propane lamps and erected near the fourth hole of the St. Marys Public Golf Course where the slope of the land provides a natural amphitheater. Performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday and Thursday through Sept.25.
Gates will open at 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and 5:30 p.m. Thursday and Sundays for a festival that includes Highland games, pony rides, archery, food, artisans, live Irish music and a magic show for children at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets, which are sold at the gate for cash or check, are $10 for an adult, $15 for a couple, $30 for a family, with children 6 and younger admitted at no cost.
The festival is the creation of technical director Eric Stevenson, director Tim Akers and producer Ben Moats who collaborated on productions when Akers was artistic director of the Columbian Theater in Wamego. Akers and Stevenson are now partners in the Renaissance Cellars Winery in St. Marys.
The community-based initiative, which was voted the Best Festival in the Kansas Best 150 Poll, drew more than 1,000 patrons during its initial production of "The Taming of the Shrew" and has expanded to two weekends to draw a larger crowd and allow for any night's lost due to inclimate weather.
"We were surprised at the turnout last year," Moats said. "Our goal this year is to double last year's audience."
Moats said the festival has drawn more corporate and volunteer support for its second year.
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a production director Akers aid he "always wanted to do." Although originally set in ancient Greece, Akers put his production in the Victorian period and redacted the script to keep its running time to around two hours.
The plot deals with events surrounding the marriage of Theseus (Moats), the duke of Athens, and Hippolyta (Marie Ard), the Queen of the Amazons.
One subplot deals with a group of amateur actors planning on staging a production to honor the newlyweds. Known as The Mechanicals, they are Nick Bottom (Patrick Murtha), Francis Flute (Brad Voth), Robin Starveling (Ed Goff), Tom Snout (Matthew Baer), Snug (Marcel Haynos) and their director Peter Quince, who is played by Akers taking a rare turn on stage. One advantage of the role, Akers quipped, is he gets to carry a script which helps in case he forgets his lines.
Then there are the other Athenians, which include Egeus (Greg Mueller) who wants his daughter Hermia (Kathleen McCarthy) to marry Demetrius (Lucas Stevenson) despite Hermia being in love with Lysander (Ethan Stevenson), and Helena (Emily Jordan) being in love with Demetrius, who is in love with both women at different points in the play. Brian O'Leary plays Philostrate, Master of the Revels for Theseus.
Sharing the stage with these foolish mortals are Oberon (Eric Stevenson) and Titania (Rebecca Stevenson), king and queen of the fairies, who are quarreling. Through some blunders by Robin Goodfellow aka Puck (Doug Griffin), the supernaturals get tangled in some love triangles with the mortals. Attending Oberon are fairies played by Stephan Jordan, Maryk Linn and Peter Stamos; Tatiana's court includes Peaseblossom (Robing Sullivan), Cobweb (Therese McCarthy), Moth (Marcia Stevenson) and Mustardseed (Brigitte Parks).
By play's end, all complications standing in the paths of true love are removed and those couples meant to be together are united in matrimony.
Moats said the goal of the Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival is to "create a rural event with more of a family feel to it. We want folks to look forward to it every year."
Bill Blankenship can be reached at (785) 295-1284 or [email protected].
Retrieved from http://cjonline.com/news/2011-09-15/golf-course-becomes-theater-shakespeare on 1 January 2015
Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival to stage 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
Posted: September 15, 2011 - 3:04pm
By Bill Blankenship
THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
ST. MARYS — A golf course by day again will become a theater at night when the Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival stages its second annual production, perhaps the Bard's most popular comedy, "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
The comedy, with its three interlocking plots, including a play within a play, will be produced on an outdoor stage lit by electric spotlights and propane lamps and erected near the fourth hole of the St. Marys Public Golf Course where the slope of the land provides a natural amphitheater. Performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday and Thursday through Sept.25.
Gates will open at 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and 5:30 p.m. Thursday and Sundays for a festival that includes Highland games, pony rides, archery, food, artisans, live Irish music and a magic show for children at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets, which are sold at the gate for cash or check, are $10 for an adult, $15 for a couple, $30 for a family, with children 6 and younger admitted at no cost.
The festival is the creation of technical director Eric Stevenson, director Tim Akers and producer Ben Moats who collaborated on productions when Akers was artistic director of the Columbian Theater in Wamego. Akers and Stevenson are now partners in the Renaissance Cellars Winery in St. Marys.
The community-based initiative, which was voted the Best Festival in the Kansas Best 150 Poll, drew more than 1,000 patrons during its initial production of "The Taming of the Shrew" and has expanded to two weekends to draw a larger crowd and allow for any night's lost due to inclimate weather.
"We were surprised at the turnout last year," Moats said. "Our goal this year is to double last year's audience."
Moats said the festival has drawn more corporate and volunteer support for its second year.
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a production director Akers aid he "always wanted to do." Although originally set in ancient Greece, Akers put his production in the Victorian period and redacted the script to keep its running time to around two hours.
The plot deals with events surrounding the marriage of Theseus (Moats), the duke of Athens, and Hippolyta (Marie Ard), the Queen of the Amazons.
One subplot deals with a group of amateur actors planning on staging a production to honor the newlyweds. Known as The Mechanicals, they are Nick Bottom (Patrick Murtha), Francis Flute (Brad Voth), Robin Starveling (Ed Goff), Tom Snout (Matthew Baer), Snug (Marcel Haynos) and their director Peter Quince, who is played by Akers taking a rare turn on stage. One advantage of the role, Akers quipped, is he gets to carry a script which helps in case he forgets his lines.
Then there are the other Athenians, which include Egeus (Greg Mueller) who wants his daughter Hermia (Kathleen McCarthy) to marry Demetrius (Lucas Stevenson) despite Hermia being in love with Lysander (Ethan Stevenson), and Helena (Emily Jordan) being in love with Demetrius, who is in love with both women at different points in the play. Brian O'Leary plays Philostrate, Master of the Revels for Theseus.
Sharing the stage with these foolish mortals are Oberon (Eric Stevenson) and Titania (Rebecca Stevenson), king and queen of the fairies, who are quarreling. Through some blunders by Robin Goodfellow aka Puck (Doug Griffin), the supernaturals get tangled in some love triangles with the mortals. Attending Oberon are fairies played by Stephan Jordan, Maryk Linn and Peter Stamos; Tatiana's court includes Peaseblossom (Robing Sullivan), Cobweb (Therese McCarthy), Moth (Marcia Stevenson) and Mustardseed (Brigitte Parks).
By play's end, all complications standing in the paths of true love are removed and those couples meant to be together are united in matrimony.
Moats said the goal of the Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival is to "create a rural event with more of a family feel to it. We want folks to look forward to it every year."
Bill Blankenship can be reached at (785) 295-1284 or [email protected].
Retrieved from http://cjonline.com/news/2011-09-15/golf-course-becomes-theater-shakespeare on 1 January 2015