A Late Summer Night’s Stroll
Conceived and Curated by The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival
Tom Ridgely, Producing Artistic Director
In Partnership with PaintedBlack STL
Javyn Solomon, Co-Founder, Charlie Tatum, Coordinator
August 14, 2020
Logo: St. Louis Shakespeare Festival
The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival is making me especially happy at the moment, since they are helping to usher in the return of something I’ve missed terribly the past few months–live theatre! That’s live theatre in a somewhat limited way, with some serious restrictions due to COVID-19, but it’s still theatre, and it’s still live and in person. In lieu of the usual mainstage production in Forest Park, the newly renamed festival, led by Artistic Director Tom Ridgely, has partnered with PaintedBlack STL to present a production that utilizes one of St. Louis’s most prominent assets, Forest Park, to showcase the arts–visual and performing–in a fun, whimsical way that also serves as a showcase for several other local theatre companies and arts organizations, like SATE Ensemble Theatre, The Black Rep, The Big Muddy Dance Company, Jazz St. Louis, and more.
Based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the roughly mile-long, 60-90 minute “stroll” is a (mostly) self-guided walk that starts in the Festival’s “Shakespeare Glen” and follows a meandering path through the park, ending at the foot of Art Hill in front of the park’s picturesque Grand Basin. The path is marked by a series of beautifully painted arches, painted by Jessie Donovan, Eugenia Alexander, Nicholas Lawery, Tiélere Cheatem, Kyla Hawkins, Sherelle Speed, Brilynn Asia, Tyler Harris, Ryean Clark, N’Dea ‘Ori Tala’ Collins-Whitfield, Taylor Deed, Lashawnda Smith, Brock Seals and Dee Drenning. Each arch is unique and marks the performance space for the various presentations from the different theatre, music, and dance companies. These performances range from the more straightforward, such as Shakespeare Squadron’s introductory scene, to the more abstract, such as dances from The Big Muddy Dance Company and (traveling from one arch to another) Consuming Kinetics Dance Company. Most of the theatrical offerings are broadly comic, with memorable interpretations from Circus Flora/Ten Directions (featuring Lynn Berg and Audrey Crabtree), the Black Rep (featuring Brian McKinley and Christina Yancy), SATE (featuring Rachel Tibbetts, Ellie Schwetye, and a stuffed Ninja Turtle), and STLSF’s finale featuring Brittney Henry, Mary Heyl, Carl Overly Jr., and Michael Tran. Especially notable are performer Laura Coppinger and a special guest (you’ll have to see for yourself) performing as Titania serenading Bottom, who has been transformed into a donkey. The walk also features a fun presentation by Improv Shop (featuring Mo Burns), and memorable musical performances by Jazz St. Louis (featuring Benjamin Paille, Kendrick Smith, Bernard Taylor, and Micah Walker) and the Preparatory Program of the Community Music School of Webster University (featuring Ruth Christopher). It’s somewhat helpful if you are familiar with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but the energy and enthusiasm of the performers, as well as the unique format of the walk, make for an entertaining evening regardless.
While I’ve enjoyed several of the free online offerings by the Muny, Stray Dog Theatre, and other local companies, and I encourage theatre fans to support artists in this difficult time, there’s nothing like the experience of live theatre. It’s a unique art form, and I’ve missed it. While I’m expecting that a more widespread return of live productions will still be a few months away (at the soonest), I appreciate opportunities like this one from the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival to see, hear, interact, and experience the performing arts in person. A Late Summer Night’s Stroll is a clever, inventive, and thoroughly enjoyable endeavor makes the most of its setting and a host of talent and ingenuity. So, wear your sunscreen, bring your bug spray, put on your walking shoes, and give this “stroll” a try. It’s a lot of fun, and an excellent celebration of the arts in St. Louis.
Photo by Phillip Hamer
St. Louis Shakespeare Festival
The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival is presenting A Late Summer Evening’s Stroll in Forest Park until September 6, 2020