This Top Pick was written on special assignment for The Ticket through the TeenTix Press Corps, a teen arts journalism program run by TeenTix, a youth empowerment and arts access nonprofit organization.
📆 Friday, July 26th – Sunday, August 11th
🎟 Tickets start at $1
📍 Glenn Hughes Penthouse Theatre (University of Washington)
📆 Thursday, August 15th – Saturday, August 17th
🎟 Tickets start at $1
📍 Chetzemoka Park: 1000 Jackson St, Port Townsend
If the utterance of “a Shakespeare play” causes you to groan and recall a stuffy English class, let me put you on to a new dynamic production of my favorite Shakespeare comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As mischievous, boisterous, and fun as Midsummer’s plot is, it’s only enhanced by this merry spin on a typical show format.
Produced by local Dacha Theatre, each night, seven out of the cast of nine players are given a role based on the roll of dice. The logistics of this are all at once impressive, daunting, and fantastical: all nine players have the entire script memorized, able to bring their humor and own touch to every character. If the dice heralds an actor repeat a role, the show will still be fresh, as actors engage audience members every night.
The show begins inside the historic Glenn Hughes Theatre before transitioning outdoors—it’s recommended to bring your own lawn blankets, chairs, and items to keep you comfortable outdoors, and I will also suggest some sunscreen and bug spray to keep away our summery friends 🦟
Dacha Theatre has produced other Shakespeare tales utilizing this same format since 2016, championing those and additional “devised, immersive, and playful work” here in Puget Sound. Not able to make it to a night in Seattle? Dacha presents this production in Port Townsend for a final hurrah the weekend of August 15th through the 17th.
Tickets are available through Dacha Theatre’s Eventbrite at an accessible Pay-What-You-Can, from $1 – $60 with fees. Teens aged 13-19 are able to access $5 tickets with the TeenTix program. Recommended for all ages.
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