theater

(Left to right) Jason Marr as Macbeth and Terry Burgler as Macduff, fighting to the death during the Ohio Shakespeare Festival.
Photograph courtesy of Stan Hywet Hall and GardensSUMMER FARE: THEATER AL FRESCO
By Faye Sholiton

In Shakespeare’s day, theater was performed outdoors, on a simple platform stage. Props suggested scene changes, and Mother Nature called the sound and light cues. Many in the audience were obliged to stand, sit or squat on cobblestones in an area fully exposed to the elements. But people came, in droves.

Four area theater companies have discovered that the Elizabethans were onto something: entertaining audiences they can see, in settings designed by the greatest Producer of all time. Each plans a summer season celebrating live performance in the great outdoors, and damn the Doppler.

Cleveland Shakespeare Festival gets top billing in 2007, as the youthful itinerant troupe celebrates its 10th season. Artistic director Larry Nehring, who has been with the company since its first year, believes they have tapped a rich theatrical vein, offering free out-door performances of the Bard’s best. Their productions strip away all artifice (elaborate sets, costumes, sound, lights), returning the focus to the playwright’s words. And since the settings are constantly changing, he says, “You really have to know about the characters and the story and not rely on the blocking. It’s all about the interaction.”

CSF is one of the wonderful volunteer enterprises in the Cleveland theater scene. College students work with seasoned veterans and some of the area’s finest directors. It is a homegrown effort, relying on mostly local talent. Remuneration comes in the form of recognition at the supermarket: "Wait! I saw you in Julius Caesar!" With the company's five venues (in Tremont, Willoughby, Elyria, Shaker Heights and Parma), that’s a lot of supermarket recognition.

One reason the performances are so memorable is their vulnerability to distractions. Nehring recalls one show-stopping moment in 1998 while he was performing on the Case Western Reserve University campus, playing the title role in Macbeth. He had just killed Duncan, when the neighboring University Hospitals cued a Life Flight helicopter.

This summer’s lineup includes Taming of the Shrew, a show from CSF’s first season, directed by Nehring; and Richard III, a company premiere, directed by Allan Byrne. Patrons are invited to bring blankets and lawn chairs. If you are looking for a perfect 10th anniversary gift, cash donations are what keep this mighty band in tunics and tights.

A second summer venue is Porthouse Theater, built in 1971 on the campus of Blossom Music Center. The company has developed an impressive following, with 1,900 subscribers enrolling before this year’s subscription packages were even mailed.

Artistic director Terri Kent has found a popular formula with one small musical, one large musical and one straight play each season. Visiting artists (among them Monica Bell and John Woodson, Porthouse’s own Lunt & Fontayne) perform with a solid company of professional actors and college students. Many of the young players come from the Theater and Dance Department at Kent State University, a theater partner.

This season, look for Pump Boys and Dinettes, an audience favorite from a decade ago, this time under the direction of Eric van Baars; Sweet Charity, under Kent’s direction; and the nonmusical Peter Pan, staged by Matthew Earnest, who returns following last season’s luminous production of Our Town. The lack of fly space for Pan is a technical detail that has already been resolved.

This is not to suggest that nothing can fly over the Porthouse stage. One of Terri Kent’s first Porthouse memories when she was a young actress there was throwing stones to dislodge bats that lived overhead.

If the bats didn’t get you, the weather might. Kent says she keeps two computers tracking storms in the area.The staff has more than a passing interest in weather fronts, she adds. They’re the ones who have to hold down the rain curtain when wind and water threaten.

Kent’s advice for patrons is to come early and enjoy pre-show performances. Catered picnics and gourmet meals can be ordered ahead. Allow time for traffic delays. And remember, Porthouse isn’t Blossom Music Center – although if the wind is right, you can hear both.

Also in Summit County is the six-year-old Ohio Shakespeare Festival. Founding artistic directors Terry Burgler and Nancy Cates are longtime practitioners of outdoor theater, having come from stints at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and Porthouse.

Now the couple holds court on the ample grounds of Akron’s Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens. There, Caliban was able to rise from a real lagoon in The Tempest, and Oberon observed the human comedy from a real tree (A Midsummer Night’s Dream).

The lighting is equally magical, says Burgler. They begin performances in daylight, giving “a wide panorama that embraces everything. Then, as it gets darker, we telescope light to add focus, before the play ends in darkness. It makes for a powerful dynamic.”

OSF’s 2007 season opens with its first-ever musical comedy, as Cates directs The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Two Shakespeare productions follow: A Comedy of Errors and Othello. All three are staged at the lagoon, near the site of last year’s offerings.

Its charm notwithstanding, the lagoon presents its share of problems. One year, a chorus of frogs began the season as a delightful off-stage soundtrack but got “more enthusiastic” with each passing week. Mother Nature finally provided the solution – she sent in a hungry blue heron.

Mother Nature also provided a serendipitous wind machine for last season’s Tempest. At the point Prospero sent the winged Ariel to frighten the mortals, the moon illuminated Prospero’s robes; Ariel’s 24-foot wings filled with air, and according to Burgler, “It looked like something from Cecil B. DeMille.”

Audiences are invited to greenshows – live performances on the theater grounds before the Shakespeare plays.They are also welcome to enjoy unscripted effects that can come at any time: a train steaming through the valley, rock music wafting from a wedding reception at the mansion and the occasional exuberant frog.

Circle back to Cleveland for the fourth outdoor venue, Cain Park, in the heart of Cleveland Heights.This is the 69th season for this cultural gem, which started as summer stock at the end of the Great Depression. Most remarkable is its primary funding source – a municipal government.

Artistic director Victoria Bussert, now in her 21st season there, says that even the animals in Cleveland Heights have supported their work. Her “alltime favorite” Cain Park story occurred during the run of a Sondheim revue, when Adina Bloom closed the show with “Send in the Clowns.” Each night, like clockwork, a raccoon entered the Alma Theater to hear that song. Soon, he began bringing friends. By the end of the run, the entire cast came out just to watch the raccoons.

Bussert also recalls the run of Sweeney Todd, when skunks took the Alma stage during performances. They wanted to help dispose of the stage blood (a Sweeney Todd staple), made of peanut butter, Karo syrup and food coloring. Stagehands had to be careful not to upset their furry guests, lest they register their displeasure.

The choice of Nine for this year’s Alma production is a nostalgic one. Tracee Patterson and Nanette Canfield are reprising roles they performed at Cain Park more than two decades ago, when the late, beloved Michael LiBassi directed. With Oliver, the season’s family musical, Fred Sternfeld and his cast of 54 will transform the Evans Amphitheater into Dickens’ London.

Tickets for each Cain Park performance are sold separately. Bring a picnic, stroll the grounds and watch Mother Nature perform her magic. In this idyllic setting, you can be sure she’ll be watching you, too.

Outdoor theater lovers will also enjoy the Ingenuity Festival in July. Among the al fresco offerings: Whirligig, by Mac Wellman, produced by the Cleveland State Theater Department and directed by Holly Holsinger; Tutti Non Ci Sono, written, directed and performed by Dario D’Ambrosi, director of Rome’s Teatro Patologico; and How It Works, a hiphop piece by Q Nice.

Shakespeare said all the world’s a stage. This summer, you can see for yourself.

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