If you’ve always wanted to check out The Refettorio, Sudbury’s outdoor downtown theatre space that opened in 2023, but don’t have money for tickets, this week is your chance.
Until July 26, tickets to YES Theatre’s new production of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream” are free.
Artistic director Alessandro Costantini said he was inspired to make tickets free by Joe Papp of Public Theatre in New York City, who believed that theatre should be as accessible as the library.
“You know the economics of theatre is very challenging,” he said. “Professional work costs a lot of money, and we have ticket prices to help offset those costs.
“But I'm really interested with this show taking a page from the great Joe Papp. I'm very passionate about making theatre accessible and making sure that people can see it.
“So what we're going to be doing for the first week, we're going to be doing like Joe and offering one week of free performances.”
Although written by the popular English playwright Shakespeare more than 400 years ago, YES Theatre’s version, which opens tonight (July 22) and runs at The Refettorio until Aug. 9, is set in the 1920s. The play’s description is as follows:
Theseus, owner of a big city night-club, might or might not have mob connections. Powerful and controlling, he is about to celebrate his marriage to jazz legend, Hippolyta.
Newly awakened attitudes to the patriarchy, women’s rights (including rights over her own body) and civil rights, are starting to be addressed in this lawless, post-war world, so when a local family seeks help to manage a disobedient daughter, well, frictions fly.
Everyone just wants to find love as the whole kit and caboodle gets turned on its head one magical midsummer night when mischievous fairies come out to invade their dreams... will they be any wiser for it?
Quipping that “Midsummer” is a “lovely lemon sorbet of a show,” Costantini said this is the second time YES Theatre has put on a Shakespeare production, as it also did Romeo & Juliet two seasons ago.
“It's really amazing to see just how much you get it right when a Shakespeare production is done really well,” he said. “You could sit here and watch and not feel like, ‘Oh, I'm in something that I don't understand.’”
Returning to YES Theatre to direct “Midsummer” is Jeannette Lambermont-Morey, who also directed “Every Brilliant Thing” and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” for the company in previous seasons.
She said although the play is, of course, set partly in the fairy world, which “out of all time,” when the characters are in the human world, she chose a century ago, the 1920s, because it was an evocative in-between period.
“That's a time between the two world wars where humans had been through some tough stuff,” Lambermont-Morey said. “We didn’t know that another war was coming fast and furious. Humans are trying to celebrate and find some fun back in life. But women are also starting to advocate for rights.”
With a run time of under two hours, she said the play is “surprisingly accessible.”
“You won't have any trouble understanding it,” Lambermont-Morey said. That's the most important thing I can say. You don't have to know anything about Shakespeare. You just have to know something about being human and love, that's about it.”
Lisa Cromarty, an Anishnaabe artist originally from Wiikwemkoong on Manitoulin Island who now lives in Massey, is playing the parts of Egeus, Cobweb and Snug in the play.
A graduate of the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto and having completed a mentorship program at the Stratford Theatre Festival, Cromarty said she’s excited to be taking part in her first full Shakespeare production.
She said while there was some resistance to Shakespeare from her theatre school classmates, as it’s western, Cromarty said she thinks performing these plays is useful for actors as part of their training.
“It's just one stream of theatre that can really get your imagination going, really getting your mouth around the words, and that sort of practice,” she said.
“Bring a sweater, maybe a blanket, and buckle in, have fun. It might take a little bit just to get you to wrap your head around the text, but once you do, hopefully that story pulls through.”
Other cast members in “Midsummer” include Warren Macaulay, Katie Wise, Kieran Jensen, Adriano Reis, Karly Friesen, James Saxby, Emmanuela Van Allen, Stéphanie Charbonneau, Micaela Morey, Kayden Hodgins, Daniela Costantini and Norah Lavallee.
Costume design is by Natalie Ellis, sound design is by Matt Wiewel, music direction is by Micaela Morey, stage management is by Blaine Thornton, props is by Shara-Lee Miller and fight direction is by Adriano Reis.
Tickets to “Midsummer,” which runs at The Refettorio until Aug. 9, as well as to YES Theatre’s “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which is running concurrently at Sudbury Theatre Centre until Aug. 16, are available at yestheatre.com.
If you’d like to take advantage of the free ticket promotion this week, use code FREEFORALL at checkout or get your tickets at the door.
The offer is only valid for performances of “Midsummer” until July 26, and can only be used for two tickets per patron while quantities last.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.