Outdoor “Midsummer Night’s Dream”

“Summer Shakespeare doesn’t get any better than this,” raves Stage Scene LA about Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum’s signature production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which will be transported from their Topanga Canyon amphitheater to Santa Barbara’s Elings Park for an outdoor performance amid the oaks and under the stars on Saturday, August 17 starting at 3 p.m.

This production is a favorite of Theatricum audiences and returns each year as part of the professional company’s five-play summer season. At Elings Park it will be performed amid the oaks and under the stars in the Godric Grove outdoor theatre. Godric Grove’s stage will be transformed into the enchanted forest of Athens where an unseen fantasy world of fairies and sprites exists alongside – and often interferes with – the human one. One of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays, it is a merry romp filled with comic confusions, mistaken identities, and unrequited love, all joyously reconciled. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is believed to have been first performed as an entertainment at the wedding of Queen Elizabeth First’s godchild.

“Theatricum Botanicum’s fantastical… production is apparently a favorite, and it is easy to see why,” says Shakespeare International. The production is directed by Theatricum’s Associate Producing Artistic Director Willow Geer, the granddaughter of company founder, Will Geer. Blacklisted during the 1950s, the elder Geer later appeared as the beloved Grandpa in “The Waltons” from 1972 until his death in 1978. His daughter Ellen Geer, also an actress, is the company’s producing artistic director.

“The production was created for Theatricum’s theatre in the woods, and is a great fit for the Park,” says Dean Noble, the Elings Park’s executive director. “Godric Grove is already magical, with an oak tree growing though the stage. This is a perfect way to introduce your family to the world of Shakespeare.”

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is the first of two Shakespeare offerings at Godric Grove this summer. UCSB’s award-winning student company Naked Shakes stages two performances of “Much Ado About Nothing” directed by Irwin Appel on September 6 and 8. Ticket and more information are to be announced.

“We are planting the seeds of Shakespeare in Elings Park. Our hope is to bring the Bard back to the Park every summer,” says Noble. “Summer Shakespeare could become the next Santa Barbara tradition.”

Advance general admission tickets for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” are $20 for adults, $15 for teens and seniors, and free for children under 12. Available online at https://elingspark.ticketsauce.com/e/midsummer-nights-dream-at-elings-park. Tickets will be sold at the door as available at $23 for adults, $18 for teens and seniors. Free parking is available for ticketed guests. Visit www.elingspark.org.