It’s summer, so it’s a great time to take advantage of Greater Cincinnati’s many beautiful parks. And now that they’re venues for theater, I like them even more.
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (CSC) is offering two productions this summer — Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream —which can be enjoyed at city parks and other such areas in Northern Kentucky and around Hamilton County. I headed to East Price Hill on July 28 for the opening night of Hamlet at Mount Echo Park, one of the many great facilities maintained by the city of Cincinnati’s Parks Department. It was a steamy, sultry evening, but that didn’t diminish the enthusiasm of the crowd or the actors warming up on the playing court in front of the park’s pavilion when I arrived. CSC’s productions are designed to be flexibly presented (they will eventually tour area schools), but the pavilion at Mount Echo, with its colonnade of columns and arches, was perfectly suggestive of a castle in dank Denmark. The view from the park (it looks east, upstream over the Ohio River and toward the western edge of downtown Cincinnati) is spectacular, and I spent a few minutes appreciating the natural beauty of the scenery before I settled down on the sloping grass in front of the stage. The aromas of fried chicken and pizza made the sensory experience even better, as did the actors loosening up and running through bits of action — including some simulated swordplay. and
Shakespeare in the Park presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream Wednesday at Alms Park and Hamlet Friday night at Veteran’s Park. Go here to read Rick Pender’s full review.
This article appears in Jul 28 – Aug 3, 2010.
