Shakespeare on a summer night

'Green Show' performers Patrick Benneyworth and Stephanie Bomar improvise a sketch for visitors at the Tennessee Shakespeare Festival in Bell Buckle before the main event. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Order this photo]

They gather in small groups across the field at Webb School. Some sit at picnic tables, some combined quilts for softer seating, and some just flop down on the grass. They eat fried chicken or ribs, sip on sweet tea or wine -- and they wait eagerly for the play to begin.

"It's an outing," says one Huntsville visitor to the Tennessee Shakespeare Festival Friday night. She gathers with a dozen or so friends from across the midsouth. "A few of us came last year and we liked it so much, we got the whole bunch to come this year."

Friday was the second night of the festival, which opened with "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Other shows are tonight, next Thursday and Friday and next Sunday. The next two weekends after that, the actors will take the stage for "Romeo and Juliet."

Davis Drees brought his family, from left, Hanying, wife Diane, Xinxin and Micah, from West Tennessee for the performance. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

All the shows begin at 8 p.m., but the gates open at 6 and plenty of folks come early. They bring their own food and drinks in coolers and hampers, or they order from the barbecue stand on the grounds and stop by the Bean's Creek Winery booth for a cup of award-winning wine. They wander the grounds and visit, people from as far as Birmingham, Memphis and Knoxville, and people as close as, well, Bell Buckle.

"We're from Collierville, outside of Memphis," said David Drees, who was there with his wife, Diane, and children Hanying, Xinxin and Micah. "We weren't planning on coming back (for 'Romeo and Juliet'), but now I think we will. "

There's entertainment as they wait. The interns and apprentices of the show wander through the crowd, dressed as hillbillies in their overalls and straw hats, and improvise sketches when the mood strikes them. Representatives from the Lamplighter, a professional theater in Smyrna, have a video display to showcase their own season -- which begins next year with the Shakespeare Festival's own Lane Davies starring as Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady."

When the lights flicker and the show begins, it's still dusk and the temperature and humidity are still high. Hand-held fans whir in the tent and it looks like a revival -- a Shakespeare revival and the true believers are there to laugh and clap and enjoy the show.

Lightning flickers in the background as the performance ends, adding to the special effects for Oberon's scenes. The humidity and heat ease up and visitors linger after the last bows are taken, sharing their critiques.

"Even better than last year," one patron says after the show. "Even funnier."

Davies and the rest of the cast and crew come out after the show to meet and greet, including one family from Belvidere. Members of a Mennonite sect, six of the 12 Sutherlands are there, the women in long skirts and scarves, and all of them laughing throughout the show.

"We homeschool, and we want the girls to know Shakespeare," said Linda Sutherland, the mother. "We came last year and knew we would bring them back this year."

She said they were considering returning for "Romeo and Juliet" as well.

There are still tickets available for next weekend's performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," as well as for the upcoming "Romeo and Juliet." They are $5 each for festival seating and $15 for reserved seating under the tent. For more information, go to www.tennesseeshakespearefestival.com.