Dreams of Shakespeare

Summer

Last month’s Milwaukee Ballet production of Bruce Well’s adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream served as a prelude for a couple of upcoming summer productions of one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays in different distant corners of the state. The American Players Theatre in Spring Green opens its Dream on June 7th. Door Shakespeare in Bailey’s Harbor opens its Dream July 10th. Both productions are outdoors. Under the right conditions, an outdoor production of Dream is ideal. The magical sylvan feel of Dream should be that much more palpable outdoors.

Until Then

Those interested in a Shakespearian experience enshrouded in a similar sense of fantasy need look no further than Milwaukee Shakespeare’s production of Cymbeline. The rarely staged play opens March 22nd at the Broadway Theatre center’s studio theatre. The relatively small size of the space gives director Jeffrey Sichel and designer Misha Kachman an opportunity to immerse the audience.

“Jeffrey and Misha want the audience to feel transported into this fantasy immediately upon entering the space,” -- Kristin Godfrey, Marketing Director

Russian-born, Washington DC-based Misha Kachman designed both the costumes and the set for Milwaukee Shakespeare’s production. (Those are his costume sketches for the show between the paragraphs.) His previous work can be seen in detail at his website. It’s impressively visionary stuff. Some of the sets he’s designed in the past look like abstract paintings casually pulled into three dimensions. His set design for Cymbeline isn’t there, but it’ll be interesting seeing him work with such a small space. If his previous work is any indicator, the visual element of fantasy in this production should be phenomenal.