“When I walked into the Churchtown Dairy, I knew it was the Globe Theater,” says Carol Rusoff, whose idea of directing a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” came into her mind upon her first visit to the iconic round barn outside Hudson. “Even the architect, Rick Anderson, hadn’t seen its potential as the Globe Theater, and only as a place to keep cows. I bothered him all the time, year after year, and wouldn’t let it go.” After nearly a decade, Rusoff’s vision of a community-driven production of her favorite Shakespeare play will come to fruition on August 25, 26, and 27.
Built in 2012, the Round Barn is home to a dairy herd from November through May. During the summer, the space is thoroughly cleaned before a wooden floor is laid down piece by piece, making the wide circular room available to host events and performances.
At the age of 80, Rusoff’s long career has taken her from Chicago, to California, to England, and New York. Rusoff lived in London during the early `70s, during which she created and directed London Pub Lunchtime Theatre, and became a recipient of a Greater London Council Arts Grants for her London Street Theatre. She was a founding member of Los Angeles Company Theatre and taught at UCLA. After moving to the Hudson Valley, Rusoff founded and ran the Hudson Teen Theatre Project at the Hudson Opera House for 15 years while continuing to originate theater projects in Los Angeles and New York.
“I like to do original things that pop into my head,” says Rusoff. “On this particular idea, I had to follow through. I was like a dog with a bone.” Rusoff advocated for her vision of using the barn as a performance space for seven years, but it wasn’t until she noticed a poignant parallel between “A Midsummer Night's Dream" and our current climate, that she was able to get funding for the production.
“I noticed how Titania's soliloquy when she is arguing with Oberon mirrors our climate change today," explains Rusoff. “At the time the play was written, they were going through the Little Ice Age, which was causing a lot of irregular weather.” The scene Rusoff refers to occurs when Titania, queen of the forest, argues with her husband, Oberon. She accuses him of an affair, and says that the chaos of the world, including floods, diseases, and rotting crops, is being caused by his persecution of her.
This idea resonated with Abby Rockefeller, who owns the land and built the dairy to promote organic farming practices. In order to encourage a diverse audience per Rusoff’s request, Rockefeller’s generous funding factored in aspects such as free tickets and transportation costs for audience members who otherwise might not be able to attend the performance.
“I wanted the audience to feel personally invited,” says Rusoff. “I believe that theater is a fantastic equalizer, and when you are shoulder to shoulder with someone who is different from you, but you are laughing and crying at the same thing in front of you, it’s a bond.”
Rusoff’s idea of uniting the community through this production expanded from the audience to the cast, and the first step in creating a diverse cast was to host open auditions. “I wanted all sorts of people to come, and they did come,” Says Rusoff. The cast of 24 ranges from theater veterans to first-time performers, from children to retirees. “These people grace the stage in all sizes, ages, professions, colors, and origins.”
Some of the cast members were hand-scouted by Rusoff, including the receptionist at her doctor's office, and a man who Rusoff approached after overhearing his voice, which she thought was perfect for the stage. With no theater experience, both individuals will make their debut in this production in the roles of Moonshine and Oberon.
Rusoff and Anderson have transformed the barn into a theater with an audience surrounding the stage on three sides. Seating will include chairs and stacks of covered hay bales, as well as a section of ground seating directly in front of the stage, meant to imitate the cheapest tickets in the Globe Theater, otherwise known as the “groundlings.”
Rusoff has cut the nearly three-hour-long play down to 90 minutes with no intermission. In an attempt to bring out the most traditional aspects of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, she steered clear of any modern twists. “I wanted to go for clarity,” Says Rusoff. “I am hoping that for first-time audience members, it will give them this clarity rather than my particular interpretation, like a director’s rock n’roll ‘Midsummer.’”
As the show approaches, and audiences prepare to gather beneath the vaulted dome ceiling of the round barn, Rusoff will continue her efforts to make her show widely accessible to the community. “We wish to create a new, diverse audience, making everyone feel welcomed,” says Rusoff. “We are figuring out how to do that.”
