Guide to Summer Theatre in the Boston Area

In Boston, there's always some kind of the theatre happening, even in the summer when a lot of companies have finished their official season. This is a quick look at some of the great theatre Boston offers fans of all ages and tastes this summer. Why not get 'dramatic' this summer and attend a Boston-area theatre production?

Publick Theatre. Have you ever heard of Shakespeare in The Park? Well, you don't need to go to New York's Central Park to have this experience. Boston's own Publick Theatre has been offering outdoor theatre to audiences for over thirty years. Their outdoor performances include work by Shakespeare, of course, but also by other great playwrights. The performances are part of their Mainstage "Mission" which aims to bring the spoken word to the public. They also offer classes for Shakespearean actors and a youth education program. The shows take place on an island (manmade) at Christian Herter Park. While the shows are outside, they're not free, but a reasonably price combo pass can get you in for the whole season. See their website in the link section below.

Boston Center For The Arts. This venue includes a lot of sub-venues where live performances abound. Included at the BCA are Plaza Theatre, which has stage plays in July and the Calderwood Pavilion which has shows through June. Plays are offered by the resident theatre companies associated with the different venues. The companies are local, providing visitors with a cool change to check out local voices.

Located in Cambridge, the American Repertory Theatre, ART, offers several early summer plays at the Zero Arrow Theatre (The usual ART venue is Harvard's Loeb Theatre is where Harvard's drama club performs during the school year.) The plays schedule usually include works by 'big name' playwrights for instance the 2007 summer selections featured Noel Coward and Eugene Ionesco.

Wellesley Summer Theater Company, located in the Boston suburb of Wellesley, offers adult and childrens/family shows including Shakespeare. The company states its goal is 'to family friendly theatre to the Metrowest.' The company offers classes during the school year and has a winter show, if you miss the two shows in the summer. The theatre company performs at the Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre and is T accessible, if you want to skip the drive into town from the outer 'burbs. Check below for their official site.

There's a lot to do with kids in Boston. If you're looking to add on to the usual highlights, why not try children's theatre? Boston Children's Theatre is just what it sounds like: a theatre offering performances for children in the Boston area. In operation since the fifties, BCT has a lot going on in the summer. Their 'Stagemobile' literally takes the show on the road traveling to local parks, malls and other public arenas to showcase, among other things, the teen talents that have been mentored by the professional BCT staff. Classes for kids are also available. Check the website for more information

Anyone familiar with Boston theatre knows the two shows you can see at the Charles Playhouse: The Blue Man Group and, since 1980 (!), Shear Madness. These two fan favorites play throughout the week. The nationally-known Blue Man Group franchise brings theatricality, music, and blue-faced weirdness to stage while Shear Madness presents a comedic who-dunit in an intimate theatre space (and the murderer is different on different nights...)

There are also many venues outside of Boston that provide summer theatre including the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, which is located down the Cape, the Cape being Cape Cod, for non-locals- and the North Shore Music Theatre which is located north of Boston in Beverly. While on the he north shore, you may also want to check out Gloucester, another town with notable local theatre. These venues may not be right in the heart of Boston but they do usually some fun theatre every year.

While most theatre in Boston have their own websites, you can always log on to Boston.com, the website for The Boston Globe and check out their A&E listings, which are very thorough. They review a lot of new shows and have schedules for current and upcoming shows throughout the region. There are also usually notices of Boston shows, especially touring shows that land in Boston, on various theatre-related websites and blogs. Boston, afterall, is practically off-Broadway. Enjoy the show!