Troupe brings Shakespeare to some Vermont backyards

On an idyllic summer evening in Burlington, Vermont, not far from the shore of Lake Champlain, the immortal words of William Shakespeare float from a lush backyard, professionally performed — for an audience of six.

Jena Necrason of the Vermont Shakespeare Festival throws herself into the role of Helena in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” lamenting the vagaries of the heart. Her husband John Nagle follows, performing Jaques’ famous soliloquy from “As You Like It”: “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.”

Shakespeare came to this audience — a Burlington couple, their son and three of his middle school aged friends who took a break from bicycling — through a program established after COVID-19 forced the festival to cancel its summer season.

So far Necrason, Nagle and about a dozen other actors have performed about 30 times, sometimes in backyards, via Zoom or even on the phone. It’s free of charge.

Originally, the festival had planned to present “The Merry Wives of Windsor” as its summer 2020 production. But then, the virus swept across the world.

Festival officials pushed “Merry Wives” to 2021, but they wanted to find a way to give to the community, especially in uncertain times. Their solution: Shakespeare to You, also known as Bard to Your Yard.

“The idea is just a single person going up to a yard and ringing the doorbell, wearing a mask, stepping back, at least 6 feet apart, delivering a live Shakespeare monologue or sonnet as a way of connecting in a real, face-to-face, live way,” Nagle said.

To order up a performance, aspiring audiences go to the Vermont Shakespeare website and choose from among a dozen Shakespeare selections.

A friend ordered up the performance for Jen and Jean Andre DeBedout, which they held in the backyard of their Burlington home. They watched from the deck as Necrason and Nagle gave their brief performances; the actors don’t wear costumes aside from the Elizabethan ruffs on their necks.

“I loved the way that it was performed,” said Jean Andre DeBedout. “It expressed a little bit of the humor of Shakespeare as well as some of the serious notes that you get in there as well.”

‘I loved the way that it was performed. It expressed a little bit of the humor of Shakespeare as well as some of the serious notes that you get in there as well.’ Jean Andre DeBedout, homeowner who watched a performance in his backyard

WILSON RING / ASSOCIATED PRESS Homeowners watch John Nagle of the Vermont Shakespeare Festival deliver a Shakespeare monologue in their backyard last month in Burlington, Vermont. The idea for the program was conceived as a way to keep live theater alive amid the pandemic.