Theater – Page 2 – an intuitive perspective

January 7, 2026

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!

December 21, 2025

A VERY DEADLY CONSTRUCTIVISTS HOLIDAY

From the Contructivists website describing A Very Deadly Constructivists Holiday: “…we’re back for the third year of this new kind of Holiday standard.” Well this certainly is a new kind of holiday play. In no way is it a holiday play that you would expect, even in your wildest fever dreams around the holidays. It is at times loud, silly, totally in your face, and often profane! No holiday sacred cow or reindeer for that matter goes ungored.

Deadly? Yes indeed. This concept was created by Jaimelyn Gray and Gray also directs. There are seven skit/sketches loosely bound to the seven deadly sins. And the cast shift roles and persona as they work their way through each one. And one beloved character actually dies during one memorable skit. The cast includes Autumn N. Green, Becky Cofta, Ekene Ikegwuani, Kellie Wambold, Libby LaDue, Logan Milway, Nate Press, Nicole McCarty, and William Molitor.

But there is plenty of music here and dance as well. Some of it very animated and engaging and some of it is just over the top silly. The plentiful humor is dark indeed and every shade of gray. The performers all bring out the best and worst of the situations. You will recognize many of the songs done here but maybe not the lyrics as the writers took great liberties with the meaning of a number of Christmas carols. St Nick narrates until… And yes there are adult themes…you can only guess…given that the opening skit is Lust and is situated in a bar…so give it your best shot.

At a brief 55 minutes with just a quick blackout between scenes for a set change, you barely have a chance to catch your breath…between chuckles or just as often groans. Unfortunately it only ran for four performances over three days so I was lucky to catch it.

So, if there is a fourth. remember: this is a short skit based play with adult language and adult situations and no subtlety whatsoever. It isn’t the holiday play that you’d expect but it might be the holiday play you deserve when the holiday stresses start to get on your last nerve.

December 12, 2025

Vanguard Milwaukee: All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914

This is a drama that you are going to hear and a drama that you are going to feel. But it is unlike any drama that you have experienced before. World War I occurred over 100 years ago. It was the war to end all wars. It was a violent and horrific war. But for one evening on Christmas Eve 1914 during the Battle of the Somme, All Is Calm. And this true story is what is being represented in All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914.

There are no featured roles here…this is an ensemble effort…entirely. Ten actors enter the stage individually, each dressed in a different bit of military uniform, but slightly unkempt and seriously disheveled. And our ensemble is more a male chorus than a cast. And the arc of our story moves from the troops shipping out from Great Britain and arriving in Europe and finally facing the real facts of war. And the ensemble takes turns recounting the experience of each side in the conflict, troops from Great Britain and then again the German troops that they face across the wire.

Most of the story is told in song. From patriotic tunes to more popular songs of the time to Christmas carols. There are interludes throughout where an individual actor is spot lighted, and then provides a brief description of how a soldier feels and then identifies himself by name and rank and unit. So the under story is clear and strong and so so apparent. And you realize if the leadership of either nation listened, the troops have a solution to the fighting.

The opposing forces are close enough to each other’s trenches that they can hear the singing. And as they start to celebrate Christmas and carols are sung, the competition to drown each other out succumbs to the joy of carols and the meaning of the season. And at this point each side finds the courage to leave their trenches and move into no man’s land and celebrate a personal and local peace with each other. Cigarettes and alcohol are shared, a game of soccer is played, and the dead are buried. And we continue to hear the under stories of the troops and feel what they are feeling. And finally they sing a joint rendering of Auld Lang Syne.

But of course, this is war, and this couldn’t last.

Director Jill Anna Ponasik has precisely identified what makes this story so poignant and telling and brought out those points on stage. The ensemble or men’s chorus, is absolutely engaged in this presentation. Set and lighting design was done by Antishadows Theatrical Design, and as you can see, the set is spare and the lighting dramatic. And as the story requires at times we have subdued flashes of light representing cannon flash in the distance to the entirety of the star filled sky for Christmas Eve.

This is the fourth season that Vanguard Milwaukee has presented All Is Calm. It his a holiday play but it isn’t the holiday play that you would expect. It is something beyond that.

Vanguard Milwaukee is presenting All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 at Calvary Presbyterian Church at 935 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin from now through December 22nd, 2025. Additional information (including a FAQ section) and tickets can be found here!