I'm a college student (and director), and have just held auditions for a student-produced outdoor presentation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. This will be my first outdoor play, but not my first play in general, and I was wondering if any of you have done outdoor theater before and could offer any advice? I am tentatively thinking of staging it in the evening just before the sun begins to set. This could pose an entirely new range of problems. Any hints? Thanks!

We've been staging Shakespeare at a public park for the past seven years. Common problems: rain, mosquitoes, wind, traffic noises. Security problems: Every night we have to strike all sound and lighting equipment, and take away everything else that is not anchored to the ground. Technical problems:
1. Sound. Enough body mics for the scores of actors in any Shakespeare play and area mics to cover the rest...and an experienced sound engineer.
2. Lighting. You need long throw lights to keep light poles away from seating area. You may also need an electrician to connect to power supply. And, of course, you need a 40 or 50 Amp. power supply so you don't blow circuits all night long.
Because people sit far away from stage, you need very broad acting with a lot of movement, heavy makeup and bright, colorful costumes and sets.
Biggest pain in the butt: rounding up enough volunteers to strike the set at the end of the run.
Footnote: Because outdoors Shakespeare productions are extremely demanding in both technical and artistic terms, tempers run high, and the rate of burnout is higher than with any other form of amateur, or community theater.

I directed a project in my senior year of college of Oscar Wilde's "Salome". The professors who decided who got to produce a play on the smaller stages had rejected my proposal, so I produced the play entirely alone on an outdoor part of campus that served very well as a stage. It even had raised seating around a "lighthouse" sculpture, that most students studied on between classes.

Our only problems were nature-a bit of rain the night before left the grass VERY cold on bare feet, as well as a breeze blowing our actors' togas up. And passers-by not caring to be courteous to our show (one guy rode his bicycle through the production during a performance. Got a good laugh weeks later, but not at the time).

I think that outside theatre is a fantastic way to bring 'poor' theatre to your audience. We used no lights, and no mic's as the audience was close enough to hear and see the actors. We timed the show and checked with the farmer's almanac for the time sun set 6 weeks later, so that we could coincide the conclusion of the play to be just before the sky got too dark to see well. Make up was the same as stage make up, and we found a way to mask the speakers we were using for sound effects and music.

I loved the experience and look back on the chance to create my own show with great fondness.

K