Emilie Krause (center) with James Kassees (l) and Brandon Pierce (r).

June 17, 2013

Well, we’ve zipped through the first week of rehearsal. A thought or two: Rockwood Park is beautiful. There are secret stone benches under pine trees, and big stone boulders you can stand on as you rehearse your lines, bellowing your words over a massive field. There are little paths and patches of clovers, and green everywhere. I had forgotten how much fun it is to perform outdoors!! There is this feeling of expanse that happens when the performance energy you project isn’t hindered by walls or windows. It just goes and goes and goes and because you never end up filling the space completely there is a sense of lightening, a joy in knowing that you are very big and very small at the same time.

There are other advantages to being outside: some loyal DSF fans showed up on Sunday to watch our stumble-through, and we got to share with them not only the story, but the process of stitching it together. There was plenty of the typical stumble-through confusion – the musicians didn’t have their instruments and improvised an acapella rendering of the opening song – but it was so much fun to have people watching. The audience is such a big part of the final product, it was such a gift to have them laughing and listening to us as we learn how to tell this story. I think it’s going to be hard to rehearse inside tomorrow…

Saturdays June 15 and 22, 10am to 4pm

Sundays June 16 and 23, 12noon to 4pm

(Rehearsals may be cancelled due to rain or extreme heat. Check the website and Facebook page for updates.)

Actors from last year’s company rehearsing A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

Director Samantha Bellomo working with cast members in TWO GENTS

We know different people come to the Festival for different reasons, so we are expecting each answer to be unique.

Doug Doerfler – Kennett Square, PA

My first visit to DSF was in year two for As You Like It, and indeed – I did like it.   As I walked across the grounds of Archmere, I first thought the planes passing overhead would serve as a distraction but was pleasantly surprised as they were quickly phased out by the soft lighting, the wind in the trees, crickets chirping, attentive audience, and a cast of wonderfully talented actors to whom I was close enough to feel part of the play.  I sensed an intimacy I hadn’t always felt in a theater setting and I remember thinking, “I hope I can do this every year!”

And I have.  Through the move to Rockwood, the various comedies, dramas, casts and crews, rain, sun, heat and humidity, and more heat and humidity, I have made it a priority each year to support DSF.   Although Mother Nature is not always as welcome a guest as we’d like, she has contributed to the setting so often.  My favorite DSF moment ever was when the storm rolled in on the Opening Night of Richard III.  It was definitely a summer night of our discontent, but as the ominous clouds moved in as the production went on, it set the tone perfectly.  Ultimately the show was canceled because of the weather, but the fact that half a performance stands out in my mind as my favorite moment tells you what is special about DSF – all the uncertainties that outdoor venues may present at times become crucial additions to the scenery, the mood and the emotion.

For 10 years I’ve been coming to DSF.   I’ve brought my kids, my friends, my new wife, and we’ve spread the word the best we could.  And every year it continues not just to be the wonderful acting, the setting, the affordability, the fun, the directing and the artistic flair of each production.  DSF is an EXPERIENCE.

See you on July 12!

OTHER ENTRIES
“Why I Love DSF”: Maureen McCaffery (May 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Lourdes Puig and Alicia Bonilla-Puig (April 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Matt Sullivan (March 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Kanako “Connie” Clarke (February 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Carol VanZoeren (January 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Deborah Yutzy (December 2012)

It’s the traditional kick-off to DSF’s summer season! Come on out for a meal at Stoney’s – a percentage of all food sales will be donated to DSF. Test your Shakespearean dog trivia, try your hand at a Two Gentlemen of Verona Mad Libs, and get your first chance to buy the Two Gents t-shirt!

Stoney’s British Pub – 3007 Concord Pike – Wilmington, DE

Get your TWO GENTS t-shirts!

We know different people come to the Festival for different reasons, so we are expecting each answer to be unique.

Maureen McCaffery – Bear, DE

Why and how do I love DSF? Let me count the ways!!

In the beginning when I moved here years ago, I was looking for things to do in Delaware, and Shakespeare was (to be honest) not something very high on my radar, but I went thinking it was something kind of “interesting.” What started out as a whim has turned into something that I look forward to more and more with each passing year.

I love the fresh air all around you while you are enjoying the arts!!

Each year as my circle of friends grows, so has the group that goes along with me. The bug spray (free), the chairs you drag up the hill (along with the customary bottle of wine), the circling airplanes (annoying sometimes, yes, but you take the good with the bad I guess)—it all comes together to make for a special event and a wonderful evening surrounded by others who all have the same sense of  unspoken “isn’t this great we’re all here watching this amazing show”!!!

I love the silly pre-show. I love the interaction of the cast with the audience. They are all so talented and so dedicated. I love that you can be so close to the action on the stage if you want to get there early enough. I love the volunteers who are so helpful with seating the patrons.

I guess I just love it all!!!!

I can’t wait to see what I can add to my list for this year.

OTHER ENTRIES
“Why I Love DSF”: Doug Doerfler (June 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Lourdes Puig and Alicia Bonilla-Puig (April 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Matt Sullivan (March 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Kanako “Connie” Clarke (February 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Carol VanZoeren (January 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Deborah Yutzy (December 2012)

We know different people come to the Festival for different reasons, so we are expecting each answer to be unique.

Lourdes Puig and Alicia Bonilla-Puig – Landenberg, PA

In my family, my daughter and I have what we call “mother-daughter traditions.”  Whether it’s going shopping, taking a short vacation, or meeting for lunch, there are certain activities that we always plan to do together.  Attending the Delaware Shakespeare Festival every summer is one of them and we have been attending for many years.  We have loved meeting our friends at DSF to share in enjoying the relaxed atmosphere, gorgeous outdoor setting, and of course, great performances!

Most of the time, we’ve had perfect weather and been able to enjoy the shows on those warm summer nights.  However, in 2011 the performance we were hoping to attend ended up being cancelled due to extreme heat.  While I was easily able to reschedule and see a later show, my daughter had to miss it.  She was completely disappointed.  As part of the celebration of her graduation from college, she made sure not to miss last year’s performance.  I unfortunately could not attend, but she invited a group of her friends instead and they had a blast.  This year it will be special to attend the DSF together.  Now that she has grown up we really look forward to our “mother-daughter traditions” as opportunities to catch up.  Seeing the DSF performances will continue to be a tradition in our family for years to come.

Thanks DSF!

OTHER ENTRIES
“Why I Love DSF”: Doug Doerfler (June 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Maureen McCaffery (May 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Matt Sullivan (March 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Kanako “Connie” Clarke (February 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Carol VanZoeren (January 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Deborah Yutzy (December 2012)

Samantha Bellomo, Director

Why do I like the space we chose? After walking through the park it seemed like the best location because of:

• The terrain – the slope of the hill works in our favor
• The bridges framing the space behind – I was imagining the characters bounding over those bridges into the audience and onto the stage
• The tree – the huge, oddly shaped, old man looking tree
• The stump – I loved that stump.  It is a very very good stump to stand on.
• The possibilities for transforming the entire space – from where the audience will enter to the actors exits offstage – seemed endless in that location

Adam Riggar, Set Designer

What I like best about the location we picked is that it makes a natural amphitheater. The mansion in the back and the tree lines on both sides give a sense of containment and the ground sloping down towards the playing area makes for a nice audience rake – making for better sight lines.  I also like the big pine tree that will be directly behind the stage.  While we are currently looking in the direction of surrealism as a visual theme, that tree will not only provide a nice asymmetrical compositional element, but will also help support any surreal theme when juxtaposed with a man-made element (most likely manipulated in scale).

Jessica Simkins, Production Manager

From a technical standpoint, this position is ideal because the slop of the land angles in a fashion that helps the audience see the action on stage.  It is also close to our main power source, which is useful when running cables.  The two bridges frame the area nicely.  And….personally, I love that tree.

We know different people come to the Festival for different reasons, so we are expecting each answer to be unique.

Matt Sullivan – Wilmington, DE

A Summer’s Tale

The summer of 2004 was my first in Delaware, and my wife and I spent most of our time looking for things to do in this brave new world. As luck would have it, I worked at a magazine that wrote exclusively about things to do in Delaware, so finding the Delaware Shakespeare Festival wasn’t all that hard. Finding Archmere Academy in the pre-GPS age? Another story.

We were woefully unprepared for that first show. I forget what I sat on, but I know my butt went numb. We had no food. No wine. And air traffic control in Philly must have been staffed by Christopher Marlowe loyalists, because every 747 on the eastern seaboard flew directly over that production that night. While honking.

Still, it was a great show.

We returned in 2005 and moved with the show to Rockwood Park in 2006, this time with a 6-month-old boy in our arms. (We were much ado about him that year.) In the years that followed, we considered babysitters, but our friends (and by this time, they were friends) at the Festival always made our little family feel welcome. My son cried a bit through Richard III (though not at the right moments), enjoyed the fights in Romeo & Juliet, celebrated Twelfth Night, and helped his brand-new baby sister through Macbeth.

And then, in 2011, The Winter’s Tale. I couldn’t explain much to the boy ahead of time because … well, c’mon, it’s The Winter’s Tale. Not exactly tops of the college reading list. But he was sitting next to me, munching on a cookie as the sun set over Rockwood Mansion. The bear exeunted, stage left. And then Hermione reappeared in the story … as a statue. As the characters debated the merits of the sculpture, my son’s eyes grew wide. He turned to me, and in a voice that wasn’t quite sotto voce, said “Daddy, that’s not a statue. That’s the real girl!”

Confession: I should have shushed him. I didn’t. I was a proud Da Da.

I love the Delaware Shakespeare Festival for taking the most complex, the most important, the most beautiful language ever committed to paper, and for presenting it in a manner and in a place where it becomes accessible to anyone … even a 5-year-old boy, sitting on a blanket on a warm midsummer’s night. That’s Shakespeare. That’s something special. That’s my festival.

OTHER ENTRIES
“Why I Love DSF”: Doug Doerfler (June 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Maureen McCaffery (May 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Lourdes Puig and Alicia Bonilla-Puig (April 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Kanako “Connie” Clarke (February 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Carol VanZoeren (January 2013)
“Why I Love DSF”: Deborah Yutzy (December 2012)

Click here to read the DSF 2012 Annual Report.