[medieval flute music]
[voices in distance]
- If you were men as men you are in show,
you would not use a gentle lady so.
To vow and swear and super praise my parts.
When I am sure you hate me with your hearts.
- Summit Players Theater
is a traveling group of seven members
that go around the Wisconsin state parks and
do Shakespeare performances and educational workshops for free.
My name is Hannah Klapperich-Mueller.
I am the producing director of Summit Players Theater.
I came up with the idea.
I was camping with my family in Potawatomi State Park,
up in Door County.
My parents and I came across one of those park amphitheaters.
Ever since I was young, I've been real fascinated by those.
Okay, I'm putting that on my calendar.
So I contacted a bunch of my classmates.
The project started as a a kind of senior capstone
and then it grew into so much more.
[scraping sound]
OK, so where do you want to put these?
Yeah and then do you think we should have
one coming from the campground direction?
Yeah, so maybe put one in there too?
So that's two left facing signs.
Every inhabitant of Kaukauna
is going to come to High Cliff State Park today.
The mayor will probably come.
Yeah, come "Shake-A-Speare" with us.
- Wilt thou at Ninny's tomb, meet me straight away?
- I come without delay.
- We do somewhat irreverent Shakespeare.
In high school,
you have to learn about it under these florescent lights
and your books are dusty and you hate it.
We want to get people out into the parks
and start thinking of Shakespeare
as something that's fun and exciting.
[horn blowing]
[applause]
[upbeat music]
The parks have been extremely supportive.
The only thing that we ask from the parks
is that they give us a picnic table.
And that's it.
Should we--
let's swivel it so it be a potential audience thing.
- I love it.
It's a great way to expand people's horizons.
Kind of nice for the campers
to get out of their sites and just enjoy a play.
- Away with us to Athens three and three,
we'll hold a feast in great solemnity.
- We have a very sparse set, you might say.
We bring in our trunk and our banner
which creates the line between front of house and back stage.
This baguette has seen better days.
[laughter]
You can see the newspaper that was used to paper mache it.
People in the group all have different skills that we bring.
We all play at least four characters per show.
So it's very wacky.
Part of the process then
is to find those differences between characters.
I'm Helena, a lover.
Egeus, Hermia's father.
Aaaaaaand Philostrate, the Duke's attendant.
It's a very big challenge for the actors.
That's something where we can help the audience along.
If we give someone a vest or a tutu when you're a fairy.
But you really do not need more than that.
Shakespeare provides us
with such wonderful, descriptive language
that you don't need to have a costume to tell the story.
[loud sound]
- Tie up my lover's tongue and bring him silently.
- I am a teaching artist.
That's what I do for employment during the school year.
I've been very lucky to have a lot of great teachers,
who have sparked the love of learning in me.
That was where my love of Shakespeare really got going.
Most ungrateful maid.
Have you conspired?
Have you with these contrived to bait me with this foul derision?
Giving kids the key to Shakespeare,
to unlocking it and understanding it so it becomes
something that they are in control of
and that they can own themselves.
That's something that we believe in really strongly
and that the kids love.
We do a quick game.
Do a character walk and a little performance.
We start every workshop with just a game,
a fun theater game to kind of get kids loose and moving.
Everyone form your lasers.
These are people who are now ready
to take risks and make big choices,
which we encourage as actors.
We have them playing royalty.
We have them playing fairies.
They play weather because we want to acknowledge
the important part that nature played in Shakespeare's plays.
When I see a child with light in their eyes,
playing with Shakespeare and speaking these words,
that is so exciting to me.
I just love knowing that
here's someone who's going to have a fond memory
of the name William Shakespeare.
Of theater and maybe this state park near their house
they've never been to before.
These are positive associations
that we're trying to build.
[whacking sounds]
- Awwww.
- Being silly is a skill
that a lot of, I think, adults lose as we get older.
But in a space where you are able
to really play and let loose,
you can discover so much about yourself.
My dream is Shakespeare in the State Park
becomes something Wisconsin can be proud of.
Because I really strongly believe
that bringing theater and bringing Shakespeare
to all the far reaches of our state
is something that's just going to add positive energy
wherever it goes.
[chorus of voices]