THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607260188
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 52 lines
If you're going to do Shakespeare in Virginia Beach when the temperature is in the 90s and the humidity is past the saturation point, it had better be lively.
Which is exactly what the Summer Shakes production of ``A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is.
Lively, colorful and - from now through the month of August - just about everywhere in town. During its four-week run it will play everywhere from the lawn of a neighborhood community center to the comfort of one of the best small theaters in town.
``It's absolutely the best Shakespeare to do in Virginia Beach in the summertime,'' said the play's director, Bentley Anderson, professor of theater communications at Virginia Wesleyan College.
The story of romantic, but quarreling lovers, their families, rivals and assorted acquaintances has been charming theater-goers with its nonstop fun and hilarity since it played the Globe Theatre in England.
The current production opens Wednesday evening on the lawn in front of the Lake Edward Clubhouse at Hampshire Lane and Ershire Court, then moves to the Francis Land House for Thursday and Friday performances.
Next Sunday, it makes a jog back to Mount Trashmore, then returns to Francis Land at the end of next week before finally settling in at the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts for a two-weekend run.
For Lake Edward residents, Wednesday's performance is a promise of good theater to come. This fall, the Virginia Beach Police Department, Virginia Wesleyan and the 4-H Program will join together to give Bayside Middle Schooler students, many from the Lake Edward area, a chance to join in an expressive arts program called the 4-H Street Smart Theater.
It is hoped that ``A Midsummer Night's Dream'' will be just the first of many performances in, around and from Lake Edward.
If a townhouse and apartment development that has seen its share of problems seems an unlikely place for a production of Shakespeare, Thursday and Friday night's shows are scheduled for a place where there have been many evenings of rousingly good theater in the last couple of hundred years.
The lawn of the 18th century Francis Land House, which will be home to the Aug. 1, 2, 9, 10 and 11 performances, is the perfect background for what is considered to be the most popular of all of Shakespeare's comedies.
In between the two Francis Land dates, the show will be presented at Mount Trashmore as part of the entertainment for next Sunday's kickoff of the National Night Out program sponsored by the Virginia Beach Police Department's Crime Prevention Unit and Neighborhood Watch programs.
For those who prefer to take their theater in air-conditioned comfort, the production moves to the 300-seat house at the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts for its final six performances.
All performances are free and open to anybody who wants to drop by and renew - or establish - an acquaintance with the bard at his lusty best. by CNB