Good Neighbors Theatre is proud to announce its first Shakespearean play as part of the 2015-2016 People’s Bank and Trust Season of Productions. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is coming to the Byrdstown playhouse with plays on Fridays, March 11 and 18 at 7:00 PM, Saturdays, March 12 at 10:00 AM and March 19 at 7:00 PM, and matinee performances on Sundays, March 13 and 20 at 2:00 PM. Angela Sloan of Albany, Kentucky is directing her first production with GNT, located at 8780 Highway 111 Byrdstown, TN.

Ticket Prices are $12.00 plus tax/adult and $8.00 plus tax/child between three and 12 years of age. Lap babies two and under are free. Tickets will be available February 15 at the Byrdstown-Pickett County Chamber of Commerce. All pre-reserved tickets must be paid for at the time the reservation is made. Stop by the Chamber located at 1005 Highway 111. The Chamber’s phone is 931-864-7195.

Tickets may also be purchased at the Good Neighbors Theatre ticket booth on the night of the performances. All ticket sales are final. Unused tickets are non-refundable.

To purchase by mail, please mail the following information with payment to: Good Neighbors Theatre, PO Box 493, Byrdstown, TN 38549. Name, phone, email, number of adult tickets at $13.17, number of child tickets at $8.78, and total amount enclosed. Also indicate the performance you want to attend: March 11, March 12, March 13, March 18, March 19, and/or March 20. All reservations by mail must be received day prior to selected date. Please provide a complete list of names/dates of all ticket holders for the reservation. Tickets for mail-in reservations are held for Will Call at the GNT Ticket Booth on the night of the performance/s you select.

Those requiring special assistance must indicate their need at the time reservation is made. Make checks payable to GNT at P.O. Box 493, Byrdstown, TN 38549. Messages may be left at 931-864-4569.

Attending a Shakespearean play at Good Neighbors Theatre is not quite the same as attending the play at an Elizabethan Theater during Shakespeare’s day. At that time in history, there were two distinct kinds or theatres—public and private, both closely regulated by the government. More control was over the public theatres, where Shakespeare’s plays were performed. These were fairly large, open-air structures, able to hold about 3,000 people.

In the public playhouses of Elizabethan England, the only lighting came from natural sources. All action took place in front of a three-tiered façade, eliminating the need for elaborate sets. Seating was also made up of three distinct seating areas, each increasingly more expensive: the pit (standing room only, used primarily by the lower classes), the public gallery (bench seats for the middle classes), and the box seats (appropriate for the Puritan aristocracy). Public performances generally started in the mid-afternoon so spectators could return home by nightfall. Due to weather, plague, and religious reasons, the plays were changed daily. To know what type of play would be seen that day, a specific flag would be run atop the theater to signal a performance that day (a black flag for a tragedy, a red flag for a history, and white flag for a comedy). While there will be no flag flying atop GNT, it would be a white if there were one.

The private theaters of Shakespeare’s day offered a venue open to the public, but it was unusual for commoners to attend. These playhouses accommodated only about 300 spectators, with actual seats for patrons. Unlike the open-air theaters, private theaters were roofed and lit by candles, allowing for evening performances (a time when most commoners needed to be doing chores around their own homes). During performances, too, the private theaters would often separate the acts with musical interludes rather than performing the entire play without any intermissions, as they did in the public theaters.

So make your plans now to attend the Good Neighbors Theatre’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as the royals would have seen it in the 1600s—indoors with seats in the intimate seating of a small theatre with lights.

Good Neighbors Theatre is an equal opportunity provider and employer.