BY LUCIA MAURO
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Most communities are anchored by schools, places of worship and various businesses. But over the past decade, summertime in Chicago’s suburbs and neighborhoods has ushered in another communal mainstay–outdoor Shakespeare theatre. When the weather turns warm, the sight of audiences reclining on the grass with their wine and brie against a robust Elizabethan backdrop has become as common as beachcombers and baseball fans.
Yet when Festival Theatre debuted in 1975 with a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (starring a young David Mamet) in Oak Park’s open-air Mall, local audiences had a rare chance to replicate the Stratford experience practically in their own backyards. Oak Park resident Marion Karczmar founded Festival Theatre as an Equity company after being inspired by Stratford, Ontario’s summer Shakespeare festival.
By 1978, Festival Theatre–considered the oldest Bard under the stars theatre in Illinois–moved into its longtime location in an enclosed leafy park called Austin Gardens at the heart of Oak Park’s Frank Lloyd Wright historic district. The troupe just wrapped up its 27th season with artistic director Dale Calandra’s 1950s Italian-American interpretation of The Taming of the Shrew. And despite the vagaries of weather (seven performances were canceled due to rain and excessive heat) and a fluctuating economy, the company has managed to break even. It also has cultivated several beneficial community partnerships.
Plus, the sheer mushrooming of suburban troupes (from Lake Forest to Oak Brook) dedicated to Shakespeare on the lawn has not threatened the continued existence of Festival Theatre.
"I don’t think at all about the other companies," says Calandra, an Oak Park native. "Oak Park has always been extraordinary in its support of the arts. And, over the years, our audiences have been evenly divided among Oak Park and River Forest, the surrounding suburbs and Chicago.
"I also want to point out that Festival Theatre began as a professional company. It didn’t grow out of anything else–like a university. We create a new theatre experience every summer. We go into an empty park, and the world of the play has to be magically built every year."
Festival Theatre has attracted well known Equity actors and designers (from Henry Godinez and Susan Hart to Geoffrey Curley and David Gipson). Dennis Zacek, Robert Falls and the late James O’Reilly have all directed for Festival Theatre and Patrick O’Gara, David Darlow and Tom Mula have served as previous artistic directors.
Calandra began his affiliation with Festival Theatre as Clarence in the 1991 production of Richard III (with Mula in the lead). He co-directed Dream in 1994 with Mula and officially took over the artistic reigns in 1996.
"The baton wasn’t dropped at the race," says Calandra. "It was a clean transition from Tom [Mula] to me."
Calandra–an actor, director and playwright–prefers to produce one show over a long run of 60 performances (July and August) to give the actors a chance to explore their roles. There are no plans to do a rotating rep. All artists and technicians get paid, including high school-age interns who gain experience in house management and theatre design.
Festival Theatre is not restricted to Shakespeare, however. Calandra stresses that its mission is "to present the classics in a pastoral setting." Hence, the Marlowe and 1998 world premiere of Calandra’s adaptation of Cervantes’ The Adventures of Don Quixote.
From his experience, he believes comedies and tragedies with ghosts and sorcerers (like Hamlet and Macbeth) work best outdoors. Dream will be remounted for the fourth time next year.
"My first question is always, 'How can I entertain people and still make sense of the story?’" says Calandra, who went so far as to include Elvis, Buddy Holly and Marilyn Monroe in his Taming of the Shrew.
Calandra favors non-period stagings as part of his goal to make these shows entertaining, but he also considers certain practicalities. For instance, Calandra reports that it costs three times more to do a period show because most of the heavy velvet and brocade costumes are rentals built for indoor productions and need to be cleaned more often. Contemporary stagings, while advancing Festival Theatre’s "making Shakespeare accessible" goals, require more flexible costumes that can be altered for changing temperatures.
He also believes it’s more cost effective to rent lighting equipment, since it gets a beating from the weather. "We don’t want to operate in a replacement mode," adds Calandra.
Admitting that Festival Theatre has had its fair share of financial challenges–especially since arts funding sources began to dry up in the 1990s–Calandra commends his supportive "hands on" board for developing innovative fundraisers (like the annual "Shakespeare Shorts" in which members of the community bid on roles for a satiric pre-production showcase) and promoting larger partnerships. The theatre’s longevity has helped in the grants realm.
Festival Theatre remains embedded in Oak Park through its "Family Day" programs and children’s summer theatre camp, as well as an antique auction-benefit that was held Aug. 26 at the Oak Park Mall. But, more recently, the company has teamed up with Visitors’ Centers across the western suburbs for "Reach Out Community Nights." So residents from, say, Elmwood Park and Franklin Park are offered discounted tickets to the production, and those communities can set up a booth with information on their special events and attractions.
Other partnerships include the Ernest Hemingway Foundation, the Oak Park Art League, River Oak Arts, the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest, and the Graham School for Liberal Education of Adults at the University of Chicago.
Calandra grows visibly excited when speaking of the joy of bringing theatre to the great outdoors. He was first turned on to this type of theatre when he performed in the original open-air production of The Lincoln Show.
"It’s such a different, indescribable energy when you’re performing outside," Calandra enthuses. "It’s kind of weird and thrilling to have nature on your side as an actor. You can conjure a tempest, and the winds might whip up on cue. Even the planes and bugs are part of the charm. Each night the stars hear Shakespeare’s words–the same ones they heard for the first time four centuries before."