Free 'Twelfth Night' in Geneva

Mosquitoes. Interference in the wireless microphones from patrons using cell phones. The possibility that your hard work will be for nought if it rains.

"I don't know why anybody would want to do a play outside. You have to deal with the humidity. You have to deal with the bugs. You have to practice outside. You have to hope it doesn't rain," said Toni Hix of Midsummer Theater Troupe, directing "Twelfth Night" Saturday in Geneva.

So why does she direct a play, year after year, at local parks?

Because by offering Shakespeare in a casual picnic atmosphere, she hopes to hook people on the Bard.

The free performance, sponsored by the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission, is at 6 p.m. at Island Park on the Fox River. Before the show, dancers from State Street Dance Studio of Geneva will perform. Mill Race Inn restaurant and Graham's Chocolates will sell concessions. Parking is available at the Kane County Government Center on South Batavia Avenue; patrons can walk across a covered bridge into the park.

Geneva isn't the only one going classic: The Albright Theater is producing "Romeo and Juliet" for Batavia's "Shakespeare on Clark" at 7 p.m. Saturdays and 6 p.m. Sundays July 19 and 20 and 26 and 27. It advertises that it is doing a PG-14, "down and dirty" version, set in modern times in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Tickets are $5.

And why choose Shakespeare for the outdoors?

"I think for me - I've been in the business of plays, film and TV forever - my inspiration was New York. That was the first that I can remember them doing Shakespeare outside," said Hix, a Batavia resident, referring to the legendary summertime performances produced by Joseph Papp in Central Park starting in 1957.

(If Shakespeare is not your thing, the St. Charles Park District is producing the Stephen Sondheim musical, "Into the Woods" at 7 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday 13 in the amphitheater at Pottawatomie Park, 8 North Ave. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children 3 and older, and are available at the Pottawatomie and Baker community centers.)

Hix does only Shakespeare's comedies outside, because the mood changes of dramatic pieces (including scenes set at night) are difficult to achieve outdoors when the sun is still shining. She also abridges the plays into 90-minute performances, without intermission, to keep the evenings family-friendly and to keep from losing the audience. Hix makes sure the actors playing the "funny guys" really lay on the fun, to keep the kids entertained.

"There are a lot of technical things that are difficult that you have to get over,

but the result is always wonderful and they keep inviting us back," Hix said.