Great Theatre in the Great Outdoors: Live Outdoor Shows Around B.C. This Summer

From the Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival to Vancouver’s Theatre Under the Stars, here are nine of the best places to watch live theatre in Mother Nature’s finest venues.

1. Bard on the Beach (Vancouver)

The 37th annual Bard on the Beach Shakespeare festival takes over Vanier Park all summer long. Each year the seaside fest puts interesting new twists on beloved old plays.

On the main stage, The Merry Wives of Windsor (June 9 to September 19) takes the Bard’s very funny story about a rogue wooing two women simultaneously in the hopes of getting rich and sets it in a modern Vancouver suburb that’s gone gaga for soccer. The show alternates nights with Macbeth (June 11 to September 18), the compelling tragedy about power, guilt and paranoia.

On the second stage, Sophocles’ classical Greek tragedy Antigone (June 30 to September 18) explores timeless themes such as resistance and generational reckoning. It runs in repertory with Goblin:Oedipus (July 5 to September 19), a delightfully bizarre retelling of Sophocles’ tragic myth Oedipus the King featuring a trio of curious—and hilarious—goblins. Special events throughout the summer include Talkback Tuesdays, Wine Wednesdays, pre-show Shakespeare talks, family days where children under the age of six are welcome, Bard After Dark improv evenings and more.

2. Shakespeare Kelowna Theatre Society (Kelowna)

 

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A new feminist adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew (July 15 to 25), mounted by the Shakespeare Kelowna Theatre Society at Spearhead Winery, keeps Shakespeare’s original comedic text almost completely intact, tweaked only slightly to emphasize the battle of wits between Katherina and Petruchio and both characters’ ultimate transformations. This Kelowna theatre troupe has been putting on community shows with professional polish since 1993.

3. Bard in the Valley (Langley)

 

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Bring a picnic meal, a warm blanket, a low-backed camping chair and even your dog to a production of Henry IV at Township 7 Winery (June 25 to July 12) or Douglas Park (July 17 to July 26). Combining Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2, this show blends comedy with political drama as it explores themes of leadership and succession.

Bard in the Valley’s other shows this summer include Spontaneous Shakespeare (July 2), Bard-inspired improv at Township 7 Winery; Something Rotten! Jr. (July 16 and 17), a free musical comedy for kids in Douglas Park; and Persephone (July 21 to 23), a free musical in Douglas Park about the Greek goddess of springtime.

4. Me & the Forest (Vancouver)

Boca del Lupo, the Vancouver-based experiential theatre company, has joined forces with master puppeteers from Korea’s ArtstageSAN to bring Me & the Forest (May 29 to June 14) to life. Part of the Vancouver International Children’s Festival, this interactive show in Ron Basford Park Amphitheatre on Granville Island is entertaining for people of all ages. Audiences can listen in on the thoughts of woodland spirits—played by five-metre-tall puppets—via individual wireless headphones as the story explores our relationship to the natural world.

5. Theatre Under the Trees (Kamloops)

 

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Families with young children flock to Prince Charles Park each summer to see Theatre Under the Trees’ productions of crowd-pleasing fare such as Robin Hood (July 6 to 25), about the legendary heroic outlaw, his beloved Maid Marian, his band of merry men and the treacherous Sheriff of Nottingham.

This swashbuckling tale runs on alternating nights with The Paper Bag Princess (July 7 to 25). Based on the popular picture book by Robert Munsch, this funny fairy tale tells the story of Princess Elizabeth, who sets out to rescue Prince Ronald after he’s kidnapped by a dragon—but Ronald’s response to being saved isn’t as grateful as you might expect.

6. Caravan Farm Theatre (Armstrong)

 

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Located on an 80-acre farm in the Okanagan, Caravan Farm Theatre is an innovative professional outdoor theatre company that mounts shows—rain or shine—such as Indians and Cowboys (June 12 to 14), a hilariously joyful mashup blending live music and sound with century-old footage from Hollywood westerns. Voice of the Valley (July 21 to August 2) is a fun musical storytelling revue that ends with a barn dance. The Fall of the House of Usher (September 23 to October 4), adapted from an Edgar Allan Poe story, is a dark tale that unfolds amongst the trees and features a site-specific design and immersive staging.

7. Theatre Under the Stars (Vancouver)

Sister Act (July 3 to August 21) runs on alternating nights with Disney’s The Little Mermaid (July 5 to August 22) at Theatre Under the Stars, which takes place each summer at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. Inspired by the lively 1992 Whoopi Goldberg movie of the same name, Sister Act tells the story of a lounge singer who, after witnessing a murder, must hide out in a nunnery, where she revitalizes the choir. Disney’s The Little Mermaid is a retelling of the classic fairy tale in which mermaid Ariel falls in love with human Prince Eric, and she risks everything for the chance to become human herself. Both musicals go ahead rain or shine.

8. Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival (Victoria)

 

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The 35th season of the Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival features a 90-minute version of the raucously funny A Midsummer Night’s Dream (June 22 to July 25) on the lawns of majestic Craigdarroch Castle. Bring your own blanket and low-backed camping chair, and settle in to watch a performance filled with merry mayhem, romance, magic and even a few puppets.

9. Cowichan Valley Shakespeare Festival (Duncan)

 

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Running from early August to mid-month, this year’s Cowichan Valley Shakespeare Festival features Richard III, a tragedy about the Machiavellian king of England, and The Taming of the Shrew, a comedy about Petruchio wooing and “taming” headstrong Katherina. Shows are performed against the postcard-pretty backdrop of Gem o’ the Isle Farm’s pastures and orchards.