American Players Theatre

Frank Lloyd Wright Visitors Center, near American Players Theatre, from WIS 23

American Players Theatre (APT) is a classical theater located just south of Spring Green, Wisconsin. It includes a 1,148-seat outdoor amphitheater.

APT sits on 110 acres (0.45 km²) of woods and meadow just off the Wisconsin River across Wisconsin Highway 23 from Frank Lloyd Wright's studio Taliesin. Founded in 1980, APT has grown rapidly in recent years, with more than 100,000 patrons attending performances each year. It currently claims to have the second largest audience in the United States for outdoor classical theater.^[1]

APT typically produces 116 performances of five plays running in repertory from June to October. In 2009, APT opened the new, indoor Touchstone Theatre. With 200 seats, the Touchstone provides an intimate, complementary space to the outdoor amphitheater, and allows for new genres to grace an APT stage. APT's repertoire consists primarily of plays by Shakespeare and other noted (usually Western) playwrights, such as George Bernard Shaw, Anton Chekhov, and Molière. Three of the plays "up the hill" are typically Shakespeares, with some 20th-century productions performed in the Touchstone.

James Ridge & Tracy Michelle Arnold in Taming of the Shrew, 2011

A significant part of APT's mission is its education program. APT works with schools and educators to teach students both about Shakespeare and other classic dramatic works, and about the theater in general. Each season, APT offers student matinees during school hours in the fall. The actors of APT also conduct in-school workshops.

APT offers picnic dinners and a picnic area for those who bring their own food to enjoy before the show. Thursday night shows are billed as "Skippeth-Out-Of-Work-Early Thursday Nights".

APT was co-founded by Randall Duk Kim, Anne Occhiogrosso and Charles Bright. Kim was the artistic director and mainstay lead actor for 15 years before reviving a movie career after a dispute with the board of directors.^[2]

2013 Season

The APT presented the following shows during their 34th summer:

Up-the-hill:

• The Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare
• Too Many Husbands by W. Somerset Maugham
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
• All My Sons by Arthur Miller

Touchstone:

• Molly Sweeney by Brian Friel
• Dickens In America by James DeVita
• Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare, adapted by Kate Buckley and James DeVita
• Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton

2014 Season

The 35th season presents the following shows:^[3]

Up-the-hill:

• The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
• Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
• The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, translate by Carol Rocamora
• The Doctor's Dilemma by George Bernard Shaw

Touchstone:

• American Buffalo by David Mamet
• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
• Travesties by Tom Stoppard
• Alcestis by Euripides, adapted by Ted Hughes

Notable Alumni

• Randall Duk Kim
• Amy Acker
• Emma Bates
• Carrie Coon

References

1. "About". American Players Theatre. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
2. http://www.ugo.com/channels/filmtv/features/randalldukkim/
3. "Plays". American Players Theatre. Retrieved 14 October 2014.

External links

• APT Web site
• National Endowment of the Arts' Shakespeare in our Communities

Coordinates: 43°8′32″N 90°2′18″W / 43.14222°N 90.03833°W