Playful outdoor seasons lie just over horizon in Wisconsin

Beyond the border in Wisconsin are two popular professional resident summer theater companies that many Illinoisans have subscriptions to: American Players Theatre in Spring Green and Peninsula Players in Door County’s Fish Creek. Patrons return summer after summer, drawn by consistently exceptional seasons of classical and contemporary theater.

Set amid 110 acres of meadow and woods, American Players Theatre includes the renovated 1,075-seat outdoor Hill amphitheater and the 200-seat indoor Touchstone Theatre. American Players Theatre draws an annual audience of 100,000 from around the country; The Wall Street Journal named it theater company of the year in 2011.

The APT founders deliberately sought an outdoor setting after looking at 43 sites to “follow the inspiration that many of the playwrights and authors sought from the natural world.” The very first production was Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 1980; one of APT’s most-produced shows (last staged in 2017), it will open in June 2025. It is the classic tale of fairy kingdoms and star-crossed couples.

During its season from June 7 through Oct. 5, APT offers four additional plays at the Hill Theatre (with production dates to be announced Jan. 7):

• Noël Coward’s comedy of manners “Fallen Angels” – Jane and Julia are happily married to charming men when a message arrives from a former flame, sending their lives into a tizzy.

• William Inge’s “Picnic” – the infamous 1950 drama about women in Independence, Kansas, when handsome Hal comes to town.

• Nilo Cruz’s “Anna in the Tropics” – the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, the first Latin selection at the Hill, is set in a Florida cigar factory in 1929.

• William Shakespeare’s problem play “The Winter’s Tale” – centered on a husband’s jealousy.

The indoor Touchstone Theatre has three plays scheduled for the 2025 summer season:

• A world premiere by playwright Gavin Lawrence of APT is “The Death of Chuck Brown,” set in a barbershop with characters who are “from a place they sense is disappearing under their feet.” The play was inspired by the Baltimore death of the godfather of go-go music.

• The revival of Yasmina Reza’s “Art” illustrates a friendship challenged by a very expensive white canvas.

• English playwright Nina Raine’s “Tribes” is about a Jewish family whose deaf son meets and falls in love with a woman who teaches him sign language against the family’s wishes.

• Also scheduled for October at the Touchstone Theatre is “The 39 Steps” by Patrick Barlow. A raucous comedy, it is famous for its noir and being a parody of Hitchcock. Four actors play multiple parts.

Artistic Director Brenda DeVita has led American Players Theatre since 2014.

Farther north in a lovely Door County shoreline setting is “The Theater in a Garden,” more popularly known as Peninsula Players. America’s oldest professional resident summer theater, built with “two planks and a passion,” it has been in operation for more than 90 years. The original Peninsula Players stage was built with the help of Sam Wanamaker, the director and actor most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. The 2025 season runs June 17 through Oct. 19, and includes the following five productions under the artistic direction of Linda Fortunato:

• Opening June 17 and running through July 6 is the Neil Simon comedy “Barefoot in the Park.” One of America’s favorite playwrights introduces newlyweds Paul and Corie, as they move into their first apartment and experience an eccentric neighbor and a well-meaning mother-in-law.

• July 9 to 27 – William Goldman’s “Misery.” Based on the Stephen King novel, it is a thriller of suspense. After a car accident, famous novelist Paul Sheldon wakes up in the home of his number one fan, Annie Wilkes, who tries to coax him into writing a new novel with her favorite characters.

• July 30 to Aug. 17 – the Broadway musical “Little Women.” An adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, with score by Jason Howland, Mindi Dickstein and Allan Knee, it follows the remarkable March sisters, both real and imagined during the American Civil War, through the eyes of Jo, the writer.

• Aug. 20 to 31 – “Dear Jack, Dear Louise,” an intimate play by Ken Ludwig, focuses on the real-life courtship of his parents during World War II, an unlikely pair. Jack, a military doctor, begins a relationship through letters with Louise, an aspiring singer and dancer.

• Sept. 3 to Oct. 19 – Robert Harling’s beloved and moving comedy “Steel Magnolias” chronicles the lives and friendships of six marvelously different women in Chinquapin, Louisiana, who congregate each Saturday at Truvy’s beauty shop.

Every evening, a different experience awaits you under the stars. Certainly there are pros and cons; you’re susceptible to weather and bugs (although APT provides free cans of spray at all aisle entrances). But the beauty of sunsets and the open-air splendor of nature’s calmness and vibrancy make the journey and outdoor theater experience uniquely worthwhile. Go!

• Regina Belt-Daniels has enjoyed many productions at both resident summer theaters. A veteran of more than 40 productions in the northern Illinois area, she can be found backstage, onstage or in the audience somewhere. This is her 10th year of writing theater reviews for Shaw Local News Network.

IF YOU GO

• WHAT: Peninsula Players

• WHERE: 4351 Peninsula Players Road, Fish Creek, Wisconsin

• INFORMATION: 920–868–3287, peninsulaplayers.com

• WHAT: American Players Theatre

• WHERE: 5950 Golf Course Road, Spring Green, Wisconsin

• INFORMATION: 608–588–2361, americanplayers.org