Bard Times

In search of the be-all, end-all of Shakespearean interpretations in fair Sioux Falls, you’re unlikely to find a more apt occupant than Bare Bodkins Theatre Company. And as the company returns to the Queen Bee Mill ruins after a year waylaid by the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s much ado about this storied performing troupe.

“Shakespeare is one of those things that’s been kind of behind a gate,” owner and artistic director Jayna Fitzsimmons said of the genre’s accessibility. “It’s perceived as something for people who are educated in Shakespeare or for people who are rich and can afford theatre tickets. That just doesn’t compute for me. It’s something everyone has the potential to enjoy.”

And since its inception in 1997 through its current change of leadership in 2011, Bare Bodkins has prided itself on delivering free, accessible entry points into the world of Will himself. Performed in an open-air theatre in Falls Park, it’s been a hallmark of the Sioux Falls summer performing arts season for more than two decades.

“Shakespeare’s work is kind of magical when you experience it,” Fitzsimmons said. “A lot of us read it in school and think it’s really dry or we don’t understand it. It really comes alive when performed—all of the sudden the world opens up.”

The company’s most recent outing, an adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, aligns with many of the company’s core tenets—to play with bare-bones staging, set, costume and props; to cast in gender-interesting ways; and to work with a small cast—in this case, a lineup of six actors playing 15-plus characters.

“(Much Ado) was my first experience hearing Shakespeare spoken aloud,” Fitzsimmons said. “The humor, the farcical elements—it’s one of his funniest plays. We wanted audiences to have the opportunity to come and enjoy Shakespeare and laugh—a lovely, light-hearted experience in the Mill.”

Fitzsimmons herself began her collaboration with Bare Bodkins as a performer, and a rotation of regular company members and new faces has been a facet of her tenure in the artistic director chair. “It’s just become such a wonderful extended family with people who have worked on shows season to season—and with audience members who come back every year.”

As recently as 2020, the company’s efforts to deliver accessible, professional interpretations of Shakespeare’s works were recognized by the South Dakota Legislature, and Bare Bodkins’ 2019 production of The Comedy of Errors netted two Sioux Falls Stage Awards, for Best Direction and Best Lead Actress.

“We know from what our audience tells us and the fact that they come back year after year that what we do means something,” Fitzsimmons said. “None of us do this for the recognition, and that’s part of what makes it special.”

As for returning to the Mill after an unprecedented season away, Bare Bodkins is poised to deliver a sense of calm after a year and a half of tumult.

“I hope that this will give folks a sense of normalcy,” Fitzsimmons said. “It becomes a part of people’s summer calendars. It will kind of feel like something from the past is able to be back. And I hope that our audiences do feel that sense of community.

“They’re a part of our lives. Being together safely again—that’s what I’m most looking forward to.”

Bare Bodkins’ production of Much Ado About Nothing runs thru July 11. For more information and for details on how to attend, visit BareBodkins.org.