Radical Shakespeare: Children’s theater group performs Shakespeare classic

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Shakespeare theatre groups are always emerging, but there aren’t too many like The New Rude Mechanicals, a theater group comprised of 6- to 16-year-olds who will perform William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at The Yard this weekend.

The company began in 2007, when nine kids gathered to read the play aloud and so enjoyed themselves they decided to put on a performance two months later with music and props they created. The group named themselves after the “rude mechanicals” in “Midsummer” — simple men and amateur actors, who perform for the love of it.

Since the company’s conception three years ago, they have read aloud 11 other Shakespeare plays and produced 4 of them. This production will be the first in which the actors integrate singing and dancing in their piece.

“By living truthfully in imaginary circumstances they allow the audience to believe the story, to care about it and laugh, and hope things will turn out okay for their favorite characters,” Wendy Taucher, artistic director of The Yard, says in the event’s press release. “If the actors play honestly, then the audience gives them a gift back: they hang up their disbelief at the door, and watch with open hearts, with a willing suspension of disbelief.”

Join the New Rude Mechanicals for three free matinee performances Thursday, August 26 through Saturday, August 28 at 4 pm. For more information, visit The Yard’s website at dancetheyeard.org or call 508-645-9662.