This production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream began during high Covid time. We organized a reading in my yard with only one Zoom rehearsal and a few one-on-one phone calls betwixt the cast and me. Though seated, there were costumes and much spirit. Most of the actors I had worked with prior to the reading, when I began gathering them to read plays in my house in January of 2020, with the goal of starting a theater company. Lockdown started two months later. Now in the following autumn, after many months of hibernation, reflection, and yes, anxiety, the local community showed up, masked and enthusiastic, to be safely and happily outside and tangibly mingle (at a distance) and to watch such a familiar play, done so differently.  Adding the rock and roll aspect came to me then as I noticed that the music I was playing added such joy to our guests.I wanted to go with known tunes to provide comfort and fond memories of moments when we were ‘free.’ I prescribe different genres of music to each pod (Royals, Lovers, Fairies, Mechanicals), and as we rehearsed added more, the music truly became another character in the show. This past spring of 2021, Amelia of the O Zone and I approached each other simultaneously, each thinking of this spot by the willow tree and bullfrog pond and the idea of a play. It made perfect sense to return to Midsummer as it had provided such glee even in our simple reading, and I wanted to bring it to full vivid life. I’ve wanted to direct this play since playing Puck at 14. This is my favorite Shakespeare, and I’ve always seen a lot underneath the beautiful language. Now I am even further impressed by the timeliness. When Titania talks about nature being out-of-sync there is a clear correlation to climate change. When she and Oberon make peace and the elements are then put right, I saw the young lovers (as our youth), possessing the promise to help save our planet Earth. I hope you will enjoy this production. It’s always a challenge to put something up in a brand-new space and outside even more so, but the cast and crew have put their all in. May this spark of energy and magic lead to many more collaborations. Midsummer has served as a potent launching ground for The Tivoli Players, a newly forming theater company. I truly hope to see you all in future seats for a variety of shows on the slate. Now, for a barn to make into our space!