As the evening sun begins to settle over neighbourhood parks across Ottawa, picnic blankets are spread across the grass, lawn chairs unfold, and children race toward the stage.
Nearby, actors warm up, props are unpacked, and a simple patch of green space is transformed into an outdoor theatre. Soon, bicycles roll into the action, bubble guns fill the air, and ABBA songs mingle with the words of William Shakespeare.
For 36 summers, Company of Fools has turned parks across Ottawa into stages, bringing professional Shakespeare performances directly into neighbourhoods.
Instead of asking audiences to travel downtown or purchase expensive tickets, the company brings theatre to them through a pay-what-you-can model that has introduced generations of Ottawans to Shakespeare.
This year’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream continues through Aug. 15, with several performances still to come close to home. Audiences can catch the show at Fisher Park in Wellington West on Aug. 1, Princess Margriet Park in the Civic Hospital neighbourhood on Aug. 8 and Raven Park in Carlington on Aug. 13 before the tour concludes Aug. 15 at Windsor Park.
“We have people who are in their first show. We have like a three-month-old, all the way up to people in their 90s and everyone in between,” said Kate Smith, artistic director of Company of Fools and director of this year’s production. “We operate on a pay what you can model but encourage those who can to pay $20.”
For Smith, the company’s mission is personal. A Hintonburg resident, she has been part of Company of Fools for nearly 20 years. After studying acting at Dalhousie University, she returned to Ottawa and joined the troupe as an actor in 2007. During the pandemic, she completed a master’s degree in directing before eventually becoming the company’s artistic director, overseeing everything from selecting productions to directing them.
A Shakespeare comedy with a modern twist
Rather than staging A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a traditional Shakespeare production, Smith looked for a concept that would immediately feel familiar to audiences.
“I thought you know what Midsummer Night’s Dream has in common with Mamma Mia!— a smash hit musical that everybody digs? They both take place in Greece, which is a beautiful setting,” she said.
Like Mamma Mia!, the play centres on romance, misunderstandings and weddings. Both even include a donkey. To bring the concept to life, Smith trimmed Shakespeare’s original script to about 90 minutes and replaced portions of dialogue with familiar ABBA songs, making the story easier for first-time audiences to follow.
The idea builds on last summer’s successful production of The Comedy of Errors, which reimagined Shakespeare through the world of Super Mario Bros.
Smith describes A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Shakespeare’s version of a romantic comedy.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Shakespeare’s biggest blockbuster. It’s like a big kind of a rom-com. There are these four young lovers and different love triangles end up happening in the woods in Greece,” said Smith. “Fairies are involved and they play tricks on people and put love potion in people’s eyes and kind of mix up the couples.”
For the first time in Company of Fools’ history, performances now include live captioning on a television screen beside the stage. The captions are especially helpful because six actors portray roughly 20 different characters throughout the production.
“It’s been really helpful for deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons, but even more so for patrons seeing the text, like understanding the story better and then understanding which characters are speaking when,”
she said.
The company has come a long way since it was founded in 1990 by a group of friends performing Shakespeare scenes in Ottawa’s ByWard Market with little more than a hat on the ground for donations.
Earlier this year, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe proclaimed April 1 Company of Fools Day in Ottawa, while a ceremonial “Fool’s Way” street sign was installed near Strathcona Park in recognition of the company’s contribution to the city’s arts scene.
As someone who calls Hintonburg home, Smith said the biggest reward comes each evening as audiences gather together beneath the open sky in neighbourhood parks across the city.
“My favourite way to see the show is just to show up about 45 minutes early, watch the actors finish their fight call, have a picnic blanket, bring a picnic and a bottle of wine, if the park permits, and just like really make a night of it with friends,” she said.