Shakespeare. Holmes, Watson and More

Summer opens-up on the Milwaukee theatre scene with a few diverse shows in June that will ultimately lead to some kind of major explosion of openings in July. The transition from the traditional theatre season to summer opens right away in June with a Summerstage show and then filters through some quite promising productions. Here’s a look.

Mark Bucher directs an intimate staged reading this month with Boulevard Theatre. It's about four friends who are searching for relationships in one of the largest cities in the world in the 21st century. Playwright Joshua Harmon didn't set-out to write a comedy. “I honestly thought that I’d written the saddest play... I don’t write thinking about the comedy. I am genuinely always surprised when something winds up being funny. ”“I honestly thought that I’d written the saddest play..." said Harmon in a piece in Playbill a few years back, "I don’t write thinking about the comedy. I am genuinely always surprised when something winds up being funny.”

Boulevard Theatre's staged reading of Significant Other has two performances:  Monday, June 5th and Wednesday, June 7th. Both performances are at 7pm at Sugar Maple on 411 E. Lincoln Ave.

Macbeth
So...uh...Maya Danks is playing Lady Macbeth. (That’s so cool.) (And really...all I need to know about the production.) And it’s outdoors. With Summit Players. Maureen Kilmurry directs the show that will be touring local Parks June 9th - August 19th. The show opens at the Bong Rec Area and gets really, really busy from there with over 20 different tour dates throughout the summer. For more information, visit Summit Players online.

Brighton Beach Memoirs
​Neil Simon helped to define the sitcom format of the late 20th century. His semi-autobiographical dramatic comedy makes its way to the idyllic outdoor space of Summerstage of Delafield to open the season. The coming-of-age tale of a kid growing-up in Brooklyn comes to Lapham Peak State Park June 8th – 24th. The show is being directed by  Reva Fox, who is an impressively talented actress in her own right. Typically I’m not all that impressed with Neil Simon. He’s like...oatmeal for the stage: thick and hearty, but lacking in a whole lot of personality. Directed by Fox, though? That could be fun.

Holmes and Watson
​Jeffrey Hatcher’s premise for Holmes and Watson is a lot of fun. Long after reports of Sherlock Holmes’ death, three men show-up claiming to be the man himself. It’s up to Dr. Watson to work out whether or not any of them is anything other than psychotic. Acacia Theatre presents the show June 9th -25th at The Norvell Commons at St. Christopher's Church on 7845 North River Road. For more information, visit Acacia online.

Shakespeare RAW: The Winter's Tale
Winter’s Tale will be presented in Summer. Up will be down. Black will be white and those who dress in winter gear will get a discount on admission as one of Shakespeare’s classic comedies gets a fun and breezy treatment with a group of actors who are dedicated to being vastly unprepared. The improv comedy atmosphere will find welcome home in The Best Place Tavern as actors are randomly given roles for each production by the casting director: a hat filled with names. The show runs June 12th - 14th on 917 W Juneau Ave. For more information, visit the show’s Facebook Events Page.
Shakespeare RAW: The Winter's Tale

TRIP/Syck
There’s something beautiful about the abstract experimental onstage in late Spring and early Summer. Late this June, 53212 Presents stages a program of short features with descriptions that read like poetry. “Sick Girl” is “an autoethnographic and interdisciplinary solo, exploring her disabled and medicalized body as a site of chimeric world-breaking and world-making – a cyborg bodymind imagining itself into a wingèd creature.” (That’s being performed by April Biggs.) “BIOPIC” is a “satirical one-woman awards show” performed by Selena Milewski. “Afternoon of a Fawning” is “inspired by the evolution of choreographic process from the birth of modernism to post-pandemic zoom dance.” The show runs both online and Pink House on 601 East Wright Street June 24th- 25th. For more information, visit 53212 Presents online.