Now beginning its eighth season of performing free outdoor Shakespeare, Muse of Fire Theatre Company is just now getting around to staging “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
It’s not that the company has anything against Shakespeare’s comedies (having already produced “As You Like It” and “Two Gentlemen of Verona”) or even against “Midsummer.” Even so, founder and Artistic Director Jemma Alix Levy has been reluctant until now. And she only overcame her reluctance after deciding to take a break as director and let the actors take over.
You can see for yourself how that works out as Muse of Fire continues performances of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Saturday and Sunday afternoons through July in Evanston’s Ingraham Park.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, everyone does ‘Midsummer,” Levy said with a laugh. “Especially outdoor companies. And for good reason. It’s always a big draw, it’s something you can bring kids to see, and it’s lots of fun. But I didn’t want to do it the same way everyone else does it.”
Especially since, as she pointed out, putting the actors in charge is the way Shakespeare did it.
It’s not entirely surprising that Levy would take this step, considering that her company has always borrowed certain elements of Shakespeare-style production. For example, Muse of Fire performs in “full light,” meaning they don’t employ the modern boundary separating the darkened audience from the lighted stage. They employ cross-gender casting. And, most significantly, they use direct address — meaning the actors frequently speak directly to the audience instead of pretending they’re not there.
“Something different happens when you put the production into the hands of the performers,” Levy said. “And that difference, I think, comes from the depth to which each of the actors is involved in the entire performance. They’re paying attention to more than just their one character, because they have to make sure the whole world of the play makes sense.”
And that’s not the only different thing Levy has planned for this special season.
This month, Muse of Fire debuts Levy’s world-premiere production of “Queen Margaret,” telling the story of Margaret of Anjou, a major player in England’s War of the Roses and a major character in four of Shakespeare’s early plays. Levy’s script — three-fourths Shakespeare’s text and one-fourth hers — will be performed in July in Highland Park’s Laurel Park and in August in Evanston’s Ingraham Park as well as at the Evanston Public Library.
“Most Shakespearean actresses will say Margaret is the best female character Shakespeare ever wrote,” Levy said. “Yet we never get to hear her entire story. I thought, ‘Here’s this great character, and we don’t know everything there is to know about her — let’s tell it now.'”
Muse of Fire shows
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
When and where: 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, through July 31, in Ingraham Park, behind the Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave., Evanston.
‘Queen Margaret’
When and where: 2:35 p.m. July 23-24 and 30-31 in Laurel Park, adjacent to the Highland Park Public Library, 494 Laurel Ave., and at 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, Aug. 6-7, 13-14 and 27-28 in Evanston’s Ingraham Park. “Queen Margaret” will also be performed at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 19 and 20 indoors at the Evanston Public Library, 1703 Orrington Ave.
Admission: Free
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Contacr: 847-707-8632; www.museoffire.org