LAKEPORT, Calif. – The year 2016 is a big one for William Shakespeare.
In April, the world marked the 400th anniversary of the death of the famed playwright, and this year also is seeing new scholarship about his life and productions of his work.
Lake County also will be celebrating the Bard this year with a full outdoor production of one of his most popular plays.
Mendocino College and the Lake County Theatre Co. are partnering to present Shakespeare’s comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” with Library Park and Clear Lake as the backdrop.
The “Shakespeare at the Lake” performances will take place beginning at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 30, and Sunday, July 31, and will be free to the public – although reserved seating will be available.
Organizers plan to center the production to the south of the park's gazebo, with the audience facing the lake.
Mendocino College theater instructor and the play's director, John Tomlinson, has been wanting to stage such a production for quite some time, he said.
It well could be a first, as Tomlinson said he's not heard of a previous full-length outdoor production of a Shakespeare play taking place in Lake County.
The first play Tomlinson ever did was written by Shakespeare. He's worked on a Shakespeare in the park production in Santa Barbara, so he has experience both with the Bard and outdoor performance.
He credits Claudia Listman – who he's worked with on other local theater productions – for inspiring him.
Tomlinson recalled Listman approaching him to do an outdoor production, citing the county's beautiful scenery.
“That was very visionary,” Tomlinson said.
However, he notes, “It didn't become my vision for a few years.” Rather, he said he was taking a more “practical” approach, wanting to focusing on just doing more theater locally.
Several years ago, Tomlinson began teaching at Mendocino College's Lake Center in Lakeport. As he was working to build up the program, he wanted to bring a big theatrical production to the county.
“I've been trying for a long, long time to be able to direct a full production here under the college, as an instructor, as part of my career path, and it took a long time for it to come together,” he said.
Tomlinson added that a variety of factors – more community involvement, for one – are helping to bring everything together “in the right way.”
The prospect of an outdoor production of Shakespeare is being greeted with excitement, Tomlinson said.
In March, Tomlinson and the production's producer, Dr. Richard Smith of Kelseyville, went to the Lakeport City Council to ask for approval of an application to use Library Park for the play. They got an enthusiastic, unanimous yes vote in response to their request.
“You guys are going to have a beautiful backdrop there,” Mayor Marc Spillman told Tomlinson and Smith.
In addition to the city, Tomlinson said he's getting support from the college and the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College. “It's wonderful.”
And the Lake County Theatre Co. is a key, early partner. “Their support is tremendous,” he said.
Smith told Lake County News that he's produced about 12 plays, “but I've never done Shakespeare.”
He said the shows he's worked on have been amateur productions, adding they're “more fun.”
As the work to bring the production together moves forward, casting is now under way. The first auditions were held this past week, but Smith said more cast members are still needed. He and Tomlinson are looking at scheduling another audition shortly, with times to be announced.
Tomlinson expects – and hopes – to draw the cast of about 25 members from the larger Lake County community, not just the college.
He said he's had a lot of interest regarding acting and stage production not just from adults but from high school and middle school students, too.
Actors and actresses of all experience levels are needed, Tomlinson said.
He said enrollment in Mendocino College is necessary to be in the cast. However, the Lake County Theatre Co. and Lake County Friends of Mendocino College have both pledged support in the form of scholarships to cover the costs of enrollment for the performers, as he emphasizes they don't want anyone turned away due to enrollment.
Once the cast is selected, several weeks of rehearsal will follow. Tomlinson said they're trying to create a favorable practice schedule for performers, so cast members will, for the most part, only have to come to rehearsal twice a week, in the evenings.
Depending on how the production goes, Tomlinson can see the possibility of “Shakespeare on the Lake” growing into a festival in the years to come.
For information and updates, visit the production's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ShakesTheLake/?fref=ts .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.