“Deepening shadows gather splendor, as day is done.
Fingers of night will soon surrender the setting sun.
I count the moments, darling, ’til you’re here with me,
Together at last, at twilight time.”*

There are a handful of constants with outdoor theatre. Weather is one. Insects — mosquitos, in particular — are another, especially in the Southeastern United States. Depending on your locale, you might have to deal with the sounds of the Real Worldâ„¢ beyond your immediate area.

I can remember one production of Hamlet that was interrupted by reality twice in the same afternoon performance. Once by the lumbering rumble of a slow-moving bulldozer and a second time by an older gentleman on a bicycle. His bicycle wasn’t a problem, but the boom box radio in the bicycle’s basket — the one playing Frankie Smith’s “Double Dutch Bus” at full volume — was a bit distracting, particularly during Claudius’s prayer scene.

And then there is time itself. Matinees excepted, the curtain times of outdoor productions are largely dependent on the Sun. All the light cues in the world matter very little until after sunset. So for Love’s Labour’s Lost, our spring show scheduled for May, we’ll be calling “Places!” around 8:30pm. But come October, when we expect to bring The Scottish Play to life, we’ll be starting the show about 15 minutes after 7pm.

Of course, if we were doing The Scottish Play in Scotland itself, sunset would be closer to 6:30pm …

Speaking of time, we will be announcing some dates for Auditions before the end of this week.