By Barbara Arnstein
This summer the two Shakespeare plays that will be performed in Delaware Park in Buffalo for the 49th season are: The Winter’s Tale, which will run from June 20th to July 14th, and The Comedy of Errors, which will run from July 25th to August 18th. Gretchen Didio, the Education & Office Manager for Shakespeare in Delaware Park, shared the intriguing news that their version of The Winter’s Tale will be set in the 1950’s and the 1960’s. She shared even more intriguing news about The Comedy of Errors: it will be fast-paced and patterned on the elements of 1970’s variety and games shows, such as Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, Let’s Make a Deal and The Match Game. The performances are free, non-ticketed and open to the public. The new start time is 7pm.
The Winter’s Tale involves a jealous king, a long-lost princess, true love, great friendship, a magical statue, a trickster and several types of happy endings. The Comedy of Errors involves two sets of male twins separated practically at birth. Before the play begins, one twin from each set grows up with a twin from the other, until fortunately, as the play begins, all four happen to arrive in the same city. Unfortunately (and hilariously) it takes the entire play for all four to encounter one another, and so there are many hilarious misunderstandings as friends, in-laws and others become totally bewildered about just who is whom. 
The touring production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is an hour-long, shortened version. Shakespeare set the action on the shortest night of the year, because he viewed it the way we view Halloween today: a time when magical things have the greatest chance of happening. “Dream” is filled with magical beings, mystifying experiences, and the humans who get tangled up with them all during one weird night in the woods. It will feature five actors and a minimal set. All of its performances begin at 7pm, except for the two on Sunday, July 21st, at 4:30pm and 7:30pm. For more information, go to shakespeareindelawarepark.org
The Tour is scheduled to go to these locations: Autumn Creek/Windsong Place, June 24th: Canterbury Woods, July 1st: Richard E. Pascucci Memorial Bandshell, July 8th: Galanti Park July 15th: Grand Island Nike Base, July 16th: Quaker Arts Pavilion, July 17th: Penn Dixie Fossil Park, July 18th: Kenan Center, July 19th: Central Terminal Freedom Run Winery, July 21st: (4:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.), July 23rd: Forest Lawn The Meadow, July 24th: The Niagara Arts & Cultural Center, July 29th: Academy Park, August 5th: TBA, August 12th: Town of Tonawanda Show Mobile, August 19th: Bassett Park. For more information about any performance mentioned above, the park and more, go to shakespeareindelwarepark.org.