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| - Several small community theatre troupes of volunteers take surprising and inspiring spins on classics and take risks on new material that you will seldom ever find at larger professional venues. All that along with a strong sense of community and a rare affordability make this space a beautiful treasure in Madison. If you are looking for academically perfect shows, this is probably not for you. If you are looking for a genuine experience filled with standout performances and talent from local volunteers, go.
Most recently, we saw one of their companies, Strollers Theatre, produce William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." There were many great surprises, like their use of four spooky faerie puppets (something I have not seen before in this play), and some astounding "Instrumentation" from db pedersen & the Brothers Grimm including shruti box, khoomei, vocal sound effects, guzheng, & found objects along with more common instruments to create a magical soundscape. What would you expect to pay for that?? I would never expect to see that kind of attention to detail in community theatre, and at only $20 per ticket.
Where Shakespeare's text was concerned there were some great standout performances from actors who lent energy and understanding to the words making them alive and comprehensible for the most novice Shakespearean. Andrea Kleiner as Helena, Joseph Lutz playing Nick Bottom, their Lysander, Trent Mendez all gave incredible life to the show. I confess, I came to see their Puck. I have seen Sean Langenecker in past shows and he has always been fearless, new, and playful in everything he does. It seemed to me, the perfect Puck. He did not disappoint, and while outlandish and fun throughout, he also gave lovely significance and beauty to those famous last lines of the play. The show as a whole got stronger and stronger, and by the second act every actor had hit their stride and gave great performances; climactic and magical, the way you expect this show to be.
As for what to expect from the Bartell; you will be greeted by friendly volunteers, there is a great lobby with tables if you need to wait for the show to open or hang out during intermission, they serve beer, wine, coffee, tea, cocoa, sodas, and candy all of which you can take into their theaters. There are two theaters and usually two different shows, one in the small black box downstairs and one in the larger space upstairs (also a lift for people who can't do stairs). They have numerous special events throughout the year as well, silent auctions, award shows, writing & producing shorts within 48 hour time period... Keep them on your radar. They're an important part of this theatre community and still fiscally accessible when many other venues tickets may be out of reach for some.
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