The Bard is in the park.
For the first time ever, the Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks tour is making a stop at the RiverEdge Park along the Fox River. The Chicago Shakespeare Theater company will present William Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 3 at RiverEdge Park in Aurora. The performance is free.
“Aurora, with the success of the Paramount Theatre, is its own wonderful, exciting community,” said David H. Bell, who is directing “The Comedy of Errors” for the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. “We are so thrilled to add Aurora to our list of parks. It’s a beautiful city. We are delighted to present a play to a well-informed audience that knows about theater.”
Jim Jarvis, the vice president of programming and sales for RiverEdge Park, also is pleased.
“Our goal is to really offer diversity in our RiverEdge season,” Jarvis said. “Having the premier Shakespeare company in the country bring this production to Aurora far exceeds that goal. Like with anything new, it may take time to build an audience for something like this, but we’re looking forward to building it together with Chicago Shakespeare Theater and our amazing families and patrons in the Fox Valley so we can all experience this opportunity for years to come.”
This is the eighth year of the Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks tour. This year the tour will offer 25 performances of “The Comedy of Errors” in 18 Chicago neighborhood parks and one suburban park. And that park is RiverEdge.
On each stop of the tour, a specially-equipped truck will roll into the park, a stage will unfold and a company of professional actors will perform a free, 75-minute production of William Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors.” Since the inception of the Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks program, more than 155,000 Chicagoans have taken advantage of free performances in their communities.
The story of “The Comedy of Errors” unfolds when Antipholus and his lifelong servant, Dromio, find themselves in the town of Ephesus as they search for a twin who was lost in infancy. Everywhere they go in this foreign land, strangers insist that they’re the best of friends. Mistaken identities abound, but in the end, chaos gives way to clarity.
The original Shakespeare play runs about two and a half hours. Bell adapted the play to run about 75 minutes.
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“I changed the language,” Bell said. “When the language gets complex, it slows things down. We keep the action and make the words as streamlined as possible.”
Despite the alterations, Bell is convinced that bringing Shakespeare’s work to more and more people is vitally important.
“Shakespeare is enduring,” Bell said. “His plays were performed outdoors and for the common people. The plots are all about people. And there is something essential about his stories and there is something essential about telling the stories.”
And with outdoor performances, telling stories can be challenging.
“Today we had a mid-afternoon dress rehearsal and it was really hot,” Bell said. “But the evenings are cooler. So far, the nights have been fairly cool by show time. Mother Nature helps us more than usual.
“If it’s a giant downpour, we probably would cancel, but a light drizzle that starts and stops, we would keep going. We actually do have one rehearsal when everyone and everything is sopping wet so the actors can get used to performing in the rain. In this way they can get used to slippery conditions.”
But it is all worth it for Bell when the crowds arrive.
“I remember that more than 2,500 people saw a Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks play in a Chicago park maybe five years ago,” he said. “To see them ignited by the production was exciting. Maybe they are seeing a stage show for the first time or seeing a Shakespeare play for the first time, but it serves them for the rest of their lives.
Tim Rater, president and chief executive officer of RiverEdge Park, hopes that this presentation on Aug. 3 is just the beginning.
“I hope this is the first of many years of hosting a Chicago Shakespeare Theater performance at RiverEdge Park,” Rater said.
‘The Comedy of Errors’
When: 6:30 p.m. Aug. 3
Where: RiverEdge Park, 360 N. Broadway Ave., Aurora
Tickets: Free admission; Parking, $5
Information: 630-896-6666; www.riveredgeaurora.com
Randall G. Mielke is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.