Category: American Players Theatre

Posted on

PSA: American Players Theatre Announces Their 2026 Season!

I haven’t been keeping up with everything that I’d like to and I’ve had this announcement in my in-box for a few weeks and every few nights around 3 A.M., I chide myself for procrastinating and promise to publish it the next day. And I forget or get distracted but never fear, APT reminded to me today. SO, as we drift into mid-winter doldrums lets dream again to a summer of exquisite theater…outdoors and in! So let’s get started:

American Players Theatre (APT) has published the 2026 performance calendar for the company’s 47th season. The schedule highlights the theater’s signature rep style with multiple productions running concurrently in the Hill and the Touchstone Theatres. The first performance of the season is set for Saturday, June 6.  

This season’s production line up was announced in October 2025 ( see I told you I was late) and features two titles from Shakespeare’s cannon in addition to a mix of other classic and contemporary works. In August, eight plays will be in rotation prior to the outdoor season closing on Sunday, October 6. The ninth and final production of the season will play in the Touchstone Theatre from October 22 to November 15. Last season, the theater implemented a new, earlier start time for fall performances to accommodate seasonal daylight changes. This year, APT will once again shift performances earlier starting in September.

The 2026 Plays
In the Hill Theatre
As You Like It 
By William Shakespeare 
Directed by Laura Rook 
Rosalind and Celia are best friends and cousins. But when Celia’s father, the Duke, begins to see Rosalind as a threat to his daughter’s future prosperity, the two women prepare disguises (with Rosalind pretending to be a boy named Ganymede) and escape to the Forest of Arden. Meanwhile, Orlando, a young gentleman who had previously fallen for Rosalind, is also forced to flee to that very same forest. There, he meets “Ganymede,” who promises to teach him how to woo Rosalind. All that plus a band of merry forest-dwelling misfits make for a great Shakespearean comedy. 

The Matchmaker 
By Thornton Wilder 
Directed by Brian Cowing 
Prepare to be dazzled by Wilder’s sparkling farce about love and class. At the heart of the story, the resourceful Dolly Levi, a professional meddler with a knack for arranging other people’s lives (and she may just uncover a few surprises for herself while she’s at it). When Dolly is called upon to find a wife for infamous curmudgeon Horace Vandergelder – hilarity ensues. Fueled by chaos and mistaken identity, with twists and turns a plenty, The Matchmaker celebrates the delightful messiness of human connection and the notion that everyone deserves a little adventure. 

Uncle Vanya 
By Anton Chekhov
Adapted by Nate Burger 
Directed by Brenda DeVita
A crisp, entertaining new adaptation of Chekhov’s timeless story about longing, regret and missed opportunities. On a quiet country estate, Vanya and his niece Sonya have worked the land for years to support Sonya’s father Serebryakov, a self-important professor who now resides at the estate with his free-spirited new wife, Yelena. Tensions simmer and desires ignite among the denizens of this little plot of land, as they debate and needle; dream and love beneath the shadow of impending change. Contains adult themes and language. 

The Two “Gentlemen” of Verona 
By William Shakespeare
Adapted & Directed by Aaron Posner 
Renowned playwright Aaron Posner breathes new life into one of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies. Proteus and Valentine are childhood friends, but the time has come for them to set out to explore their future prospects. Proteus follows his heart toward Julia, while Valentine follows his to Milan to seek his fortunes. But when Proteus is forced by his father to follow Valentine to Milan, they both fall in love with Silvia. Promises will be broken and relationships tested, but with a little help from the ladies, a couple clowns, a charming dog and a group of outlaws, most may yet be put to rights. A lively coming-of-age story last seen at APT over a decade ago. 

Sueño 
Translated & Adapted by José Rivera
From the play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Directed by Marcela Lorca 
A theatrical exploration of fate vs free will, Prince Segismundo is imprisoned from birth, based on a prophesy that claimed he grow into a tyrant. But as time passes, his father, King Basilio, has regrets. So he decides to release Segismundo to test if he’s really all that bad. And if it turns out he is? They’ll just return him to his prison and tell him his freedom was all a dream. Throw in a damsel in disguise, a salty servant and power-hungry couple with relationship issues, and you get a funny, absurd and strangely beautiful take on a 17th century classic. Contains adult themes and language. 

In the Touchstone Theatre 
Casey and Diana 
By Nick Green
Directed by Michael Herwitz 
In 1991, as the AIDS epidemic devastates the gay community and stokes global stigma, a Toronto hospice prepares for a remarkable visitor: Princess Diana. Her arrival offering a glimmer of hope for understanding and compassion. As patients and caregivers prepare for the big day, they share stories, fears, and moments of joy—reminding each other of their strength and humanity in the face of loss. A tender, unflinching drama about resilience, dignity and the small acts of grace that hold the power to change lives. Contains adult themes and language. 

The Chairs 
By Eugène Ionesco
Directed by Vanessa Stalling
It’s been a few years since APT has had an absurdist on stage (Exit the King, 2018), and Ionesco is among the best of the genre. An elderly couple waits in a remote house for an Orator to lead a grand, scientific lecture. As the guests begin to “arrive,” the couple scrambles to seat them all while holding increasingly surreal conversations. A “tragic farce” – clownish, quirky and existential – just the way we like our Theatre of the absurd. Featuring Colleen Madden and James Ridge, and directed by Vanessa Stalling (Constellations, 2024). Contains adult themes and language. 

Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea 
By Nathan Alan Davis 
Directed by Tyrone Phillips 
Dontrell is a teenager with a bright future and an ancestry haunted by water. As he prepares to leave for college, he’s pulled inevitably toward his family’s mysterious history, and an ancestor lost at sea long ago. Driven by dreams, Dontrell searches for connection to his past as his family attempts to anchor him in the present.  A lyrical, funny and theatrical exploration of love, legacy and self-discovery. Contains adult themes and language. 

Opening in October
Witch 
By Jen Silverman
Directed by Keira Fromm 
The Devil is making the rounds in Edmonton, trading favors for souls. And business is booming. Everybody wants something – love, power or just a little validation – and they’re willing to pay dearly. But Scratch may have met his match in Elizabeth, a woman living on the outskirts of town who people believe to be a witch. As they play a flirty cat and mouse game, events in the village take on a life of their own. Jen Silverman’s (The Moors, 2022) wickedly entertaining retelling of the story of The Witch of Edmonton, hitting the Touchstone just in time for spooky season.  Contains adult themes and language.

About the Theatre 
American Players Theatre (APT) is a professional repertory theater devoted to great and future classics. Founded in 1979, APT continues to be one of the most popular and critically acclaimed outdoor classical theaters in the nation (2025 recipient of Newsweek’s Best Outdoor Theater Performance.) 

APT is located in Spring Green, Wis., on 110 acres of hilly woods and meadows above the Wisconsin River. The outdoor amphitheater sits within a natural hallow atop an oak-wooded hill surrounded by prairie. Under the dome of sky, world class artists perform for a house of up to 1,075. In 2009, APT opened an indoor space, the Touchstone Theatre, offering a different, more intimate play-going experience for 201 audience members. 

So there you have it…start dreaming…then start planning…and see you in Spring Green!

Posted on

APT’s The 39 Steps Owes More To Charlie Chaplin Than To Alfred Hitchcock

In less than a month’s time, I have been privileged to see two plays based on iconic 20th Century movies. First was the Milwaukee Rep’s It’s A Wonderful Life Radio Play and now the American Players Theater, The 39 Steps. Of course, the anticipation before both of these plays was intensified by my curiosity around how these wonderful theater companies were going to translate such memorable movies to the stage.

The underlying premise for Hitchcock’s film of the common man getting caught up in a web of deceit and intrigue and coming out the hero is absurd. Absurd! Keep that word in front of mind because Patrick Barlow’s adaptation is going to plunge us into the absurd! Barlow’s adaptation is loosely based on the film. Loosely! The basic story line remains intact: it’s a spy thriller and our hero gets caught up with a femme fatale German spy, runs across Europe trying to solve the puzzle, is falsely accused of murder, is chased by henchmen and police, is tempted by a number of captivating women, and triumphs in the end. Now, after that, take all of your preconceived notions on how that happens and what is said and throw them out the rear window (sorry, there should have been a spoiler alert there since I just twisted a joke from the play to my own devices. warning: I may do it again).

Marcus Truschinski & Laura Rook, The 39 Steps, 2025. Photo by Dan Norman Photography. Photo courtesy of APT.

Just what do we have here? Well as director John Taylor Phillips mentions in his note in the playbill, “If Alfred Hitchcock and Monty Python had a theatrical baby, it might look something like Patrick Barlow’s adaptation…”. Yes indeed, there is certainly a resemblance to Python humor…but I also sense a great deal of Charlie Chaplin…and the interactions between Nate Burger and Casey Hoekstra, probably owe something to Stan Laurel and Oliver Harvey as well. And although I have to credit Phillips with a cinematic vision across this small stage…there is no way this would have happened without the ensemble being wholly committed and inwolved (sic !!). And Phillips takes great care, great care indeed, to poke fun at any number of cinematic and theatrical norms and structures throughout. Half the fun is finding them and recognizing them as they occur. And Barlow has baked in a few references to other things Hitchcock. like my reference to Rear Window above. Every Hitchcock fan will delight in those. And I believe the trunks scattered and moved around the set to act as beds, chairs, tables, rail car seating, car seats, and the roofs (why isn’t that rooves?) of train cars, actually seem to resemble the one in Rope. Keep your eyes and ears open for Hitch references. Is this Barlow’s means of providing a Hitchcock cameo?

There are four actors in the show. Three of them play multiple roles…a couple of them dozens of characters. It gets very complicated and confusing…it’s a miracle that it all works so well.

Laura Rook, Marcus Truschinski, Casey Hoektra & Nate Burger, The 39 Steps, 2025. Photo by Dan Norman. Photo courtesy of APT.

Marcus Truschinski plays our protagonist, Richard Hannay (or Hammond or Highsmith or Hwhatever). He plays the role for all that it is worth, rising to the occasion as attractive females fawn over him, pretend to fawn over him, or actually fall over him in their death throe. Truschinski keeps his cool and pursues the solution to the mystery presented him. He proves himself to be the consummate comic actor as he gets himself out of any number of tight spots. Besides acting the quick witted and glib tongued Hannay, Truschinski also simulates the varying ‘death defying’ stunts that always enable his last minute escapes! Some of his implied escapades, to me, are reminiscent of Chaplin movie stunts.

Laura Rook gets to play three entrancing but completely different female roles. We first meet her as Annabella Schmidt, our femme fatale German spy, as she reveals the plot to Hannay just before she breathes her last in his apartment. Rook’s German accent is an ear stretching exercise in its own wit. And then she moves on to the woman who meets Hannay on the train as he dashes into her compartment and embraces her to avoid the police in pursuit…but she turns him in. And again later she turns him in but eventually comes around to understand he is telling the truth. Rook is wonderful in her transition from insulted to enamored. And finally she shows her coquettish side as she plays the young wife of a farmer who agrees to put Hannay up for the night (wink wink) Three visions of beauty, three accents, three very different characters…and Rook smoothly moves from one to the other.

Marcus Truschinski, Casey Hoekstra, Laura Rook & Nate Burger, The 39 Steps, 2025. Photo by Dan Norman. Photo courtesy of APT!

And then we come to the Clowns. Now, no actual clowns were harmed in the making of this production and no actual clowns take part. Instead clowns here is the descriptive term that lets us know what activities Nate Burger and Casey Hoekstra are going to embark in. They are about to play multiple roles, many of them slapstick, many as a pair or duo, and here’s where I feel the Laurel and Hardy influences come into play. They play spies, policemen, salesmen on a train, a Scottish couple running a hotel, and the aforementioned young wife and older farmer. Sometimes in quick unison and sometimes back and forth and back and forth. And each time with change in costume and accent and age…and sometimes gender. In through the out door and wig on wig off or give me the other wig. And there is a moment on the train as they squeeze around the compartment that does seem like a clown car skit at the circus. These gentlemen are completely fluid and nonplussed through it all, and absolutely hilarious. One paean to Hitchcock, and I got lost in transition, but I think this bit belongs to Hoekstra, but as he plays a police officer on the rail platform talking with someone on the train. He speaks in a voice oddly reminiscent of a certain James Stewart! Bravo.

Besides director John Taylor Phillips who kept this all straight and moving in a jagged line, there are two other heroes here who don’t appear on stage. Scenic designer, Nathan Stubar, who made a city, railway, manor, hotel, moors, car, and biplane out of nothing right here on stage in the Touchstone Theater. A couple of step ladders and a cross ladder become a very effective and believable bi-plane! And costume designer, Holly Payne, who managed to keep the costumes in place at the exact moment they were needed and looking precisely right for the character…and if someone else besides Payne was responsible for the wigs on the clowns, give them a gold star for this season ender.

Laura Rook, Marcus Truschinski, Casey Hoekstra & Nate Burger, The 39 Steps, 2025. Photo by Dan Norman Photography. Photo courtesy of APT.

And one more thing: we don’t need no stinking sound effects when the director allows the cast to channel their inner eight year old selves and make the appropriate noises! And those of you sitting front row? You may end up being inwolved for a moment or two.

And as promised, Spoiler Alert (dad joke): When is a picture frame, not a picture frame? When it’s a rear window!

The 39 Steps runs in the American Players Theatre’s Touchstone Theater through November 30, 2025 but most shows are sold out so call the box office, just in case: More info here!

Extra Credit reading: the Playbill!

Recommended reading: ^^John Taylor Phillips Director’s Note! ^^

Casey Hoekstra & Nate Burger, The 39 Steps, 2025. Photo by Dan Norman. Photo courtesy of APT!
Posted on

A Note To My Readers and Milwaukee’s Art Organizations!

The Milwaukee 2024 – 2025 art season was simply remarkable. I was continually surprised and challenged by the art, music, dance, and theater events that I was fortunate to experience. And I hope that it also helped me to improve my understanding of the arts and increase my ability to see. I know that I was able to expand my coverage of theater as the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre and Next Act Theatre invited me to participate in their seasons. And I want to thank the artists, performers, directors, art admins, and university professors who encouraged and supported me in 2024 – 2025. It let me know that I was adding value and moving in the right direction with my efforts at An Intuitive Perspective.

So I felt a great deal of excitement and anticipation as the 2025 – 2026 season got underway. And I was off to a great start with Next Act’s Sanctuary City and Vanguard Milwaukee’s Presentation of Lungs. And then I was called away for a family emergency and missed a few other season openers and felt a profound sense of loss. And it just reinforced in me that art is important: to the individual and to the community. I am home now and intend to jump back into the season with both feet this weekend. So for those readers looking forward to a review of your favorite theater company, I am sorry. And to those organizations looking forward to my support, I am sorry. I may get called away again, so if I seem to be missing in action, please bear with me.

So this seems like a good place to add these thoughts. Milwaukee’s arts scene is incredibly vibrant and diverse and the level of professionalism is truly remarkable. But please don’t take it for granted. As Wisconsin has slipped to 50th place in public support of the arts, please support your favorite art groups by attending every event that interests you. And donate to them in any manner and any means that you can. It is important.

I love you all!