Summer Stock Theater

Photo credit: Genny Dimitrakopoulou

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate. . ."

These are the opening lines of Shakespeare's 18th Sonnet, one of his most famous. The comparison to a summer's day is less favorable during a heatwave, I think. It's not hard to be lovelier and more temperate than a day with triple-digit heat! Of course, weather this hot makes it difficult to agree with Shakespeare that "summer's lease hath all too short a date". . . we're already looking forward to the (hopefully) cooler temperatures of autumn.

Still, as we discuss in this episode ofSeasonbySeason, Shakespeare and summer go hand-in-hand for me. I grew up near where The California Shakespeare Festival (now CalShakes, or the California Shakespeare Theater) takes place every summer. It's a summertime tradition in many places across the country to enjoy theater outdoors, and Shakespeare is a great choice for these performances. Firstly, Shakespeare is now in the public domain, so can be produced very easily; secondly, barring bad weather, summer afternoons provide wonderful lighting so companies don't have to tech as much; and of course, Shakespeare outdoors is just fun.

"This green plot shall be our stage": we reference Midsummer Night's Dream in our episode, but quite a few Shakespeare plays take place out of doors; I'm thinking of As You Like It, in the forest of Arden, and The Tempest, on an island. . . there are more! What are your favorite Shakespeare plays, and how many have you seen outside, under a summer sky?

PS: If you'd like to read more about summer Shakespeare theater, check out this article from the Folger Shakespeare Library.

— Kit