Great River Shakespeare Festival: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The 2026 season opens soon in our new home, The ARC, with productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Pericles, Prince of Tyre. The festival runs June 24 through July 26. See performance dates and times. You can purchase a 2-play season pass and save 10% off single-ticket prices.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
Welcome to The ARC (arcwinona.org)—and to the midsummer magic that has always lived here. To celebrate our glorious new home, GRSF fills this 1909 jewel of a theater with ragtime rhythms, art deco flair, and the splendor of its breathtaking historic drops, conjuring a world where love, laughter, and a little chaos reign supreme. A ragtag band of working stiffs rehearses a play for their neighbors. Four besotted lovers tumble headlong into an enchanted forest. And somewhere in the fairy realm, things have gone wonderfully, gloriously wrong. Bold, physical, and irresistibly fun for all ages, this Midsummer is a homecoming and a celebration—proof that theater has always been, and always will be, the place where community comes alive.
Directed by Doug Scholz-Carlson, (Comedy of Errors, Hamlet, Minnesota Opera’s Cosi fan Tutte, Metropolitan Opera), Midsummer features festival favorites Michael Fitzpatrick (Every Brilliant Thing, King Lear, Denver Center, Geva Theater) as Puck, and Will Sturdivant (Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, Guthrie Theater’s Henriad [History Cycle] and Lehman Trilogy, Milwaukee Rep) and Tarah Flanagan (Hamlet, An Iliad, Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s Much Ado About Nothing) alternating as Bottom and Peter Quince. Come twice to see both versions.
Directed by Doug Scholz-Carlson
Scenic Design by Karl Gfall
Costume Design by John Merritt
Lighting Design by Avery Reagan
Sound Design by Matthew Tibbs
Properties Design by Karl Gfall
Performance Dates & Times
NOTE: Theatrical haze (water-soluble) may be used during this performance. Fidget-friendly performances will NOT use haze.