Summit Players Theatre returns live for The Winter’s Tale

Traveling Company offering free Shakespeare play with workshops in 24 State Parks Wisconsin-based traveling theatre company Summit Players Theatre is returning to live, outdoor performance after a year off due to COVID-19 and will be performing Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale from June 12 to August 22 in 24 different Wisconsin State Parks. All performances will be free and preceded by a 45-minute educational workshop. The Summit Players will be coming to perform at Rib Mountain State Park on August 20.

“We’re excited to get back to presenting live theatre and bringing people together across Wisconsin,” stated Executive Director A.J. Magoon, a founding member of the organization. “The Winter’s Tale is like Shakespeare’s take on a fairy tale – there’s love, there’s loss, there’s magic and music. The audience gets to help us reach that happily-everafter ending, which is a perfect way to return this year.”

Each The Winter’s Tale show will be 75 minutes long and completely free, in accordance with the company’s mission of creating Shakespeare anyone can afford, attend, and understand. Through a collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Summit Players are also able to introduce audiences around the state to their local parks.

This year, the Summit Players team boasts three new members—Maura Atwood, Cole Conrad and Kaylene Howard. All three will act in The Winter’s Tale as well as serving as teaching artists for the company.

“We’re coming back with something totally new, which is perfect for people who love us or people who have never seen us,” said Caroline Norton, Education Director and two-year alumna of the company’s tours. “There are new things to learn in our workshop, new people to see in our show, new jokes, new lessons and new fun while still getting that classic Shakespeare in the State Parks experience.