O u t d o o r s e at i n g a va i l a b l e
AP T enters into its 40th season this year, and the organization’s passion for storytelling is as strong today as it was for their first performance in 1980. can’t explain what it’s like to step out of a dressing room and be under the stars. I can’t explain to you what it does to you as a performer. How it rejuvenates you. How it affects you. For the right people, for the people who enjoy that, it’s lifegiving. And there’s something sacred about it.” APT enters into its 40th season this year, and the organization’s passion for storytelling is as strong today as it was for their first performance in 1980. Jessica Amend, marketing content manager for APT, says, “Regardless of who’s directing, the story comes first.” Their philosophy is about making the story as accessible as possible. To achieve that depth of telling a story while using easily misinterpreted language requires world-class actors with a lifestyle dedicated to perfection. “They are students of something that they think is infinitely impossible to be great at,” says Brenda. “They are people that are inherently interested in that larger exploration and that larger challenge and tenacity to go after something that has no real answers.”
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I imagine the vision of APT founders Charles Bright, Randall Duk Kim, and Anne Occhiogrosso was very much in the spirit of the actors when they searched the Lockman farm near Spring Green to find the perfect place for the stage. As is on APT’s website, “One person walked to the base of a steep hill and began to read; his voice reached those above with uncanny clarity. After looking at 43 sites, this was the one.” Here they would perform Shakespeare plays uncut, which meant potentially four-hour-long endeavors. In the interest of accessibility, this is typically not the case today. Jessica says, “It’s really evolved so that we tell people the best story with the best actors while keeping the playwright’s original vision in place.” As prominent as Shakespeare is at APT, his works aren’t exclusive in the venue. This year will also feature playwrights Oliver Goldsmith, August Wilson, Lauren Gunderson, George Bernard Shaw, Tennessee Williams, Henrik Ibsen, and Lucas Hnath. Drawing a wider breadth of play enthusiasts madisonessentials.com
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