Outdoor-theatre troupe pays mashed-up homage to both "Romeo and Juliet" and "Star Wars" in Port Costa and around the Bay Area

Eccentric travelling thespian troupe Samuel Peaches’ Peripatetic Players have announced a 2016 Bay Area Parks tour aboard FluxWagon, their folding mobile stage.

Continuing their tradition of adapting beloved stories to the stage with ridiculous parody and silly songs, this September the Peripatetic Players will perform Shakespeare or Space Wars, described by one member of the troupe, Princess Gwen, as “an homage to two classic star-crossed tales of destiny and daring.” In this latest theatrical adventure, the Peripatetic Players find themselves caught between the long-held dream of Samuel Peaches, their troupe’s leader, to perform Mercutio’s famous “Queen Mab” speech in Romeo and Juliet, and the urge of Thumper, their Properties Master, to build legions of droids and spaceships inspired by George Lucas's Star Wars franchise. The rest of the troupe is eager to put on either show -- or both -- so long as they get to perform.

Schedule

Performances will take place at the Berkeley Marina on Saturday, September 10; Centennial Park in Pleasanton on Sunday, September 11; City Plaza Park in Santa Clara on Saturday, September 17; Dimond Park in Oakland, on Sunday, September 18; and as part of a weekend-long festival of theatre and music hosted by the Peripatetic Players, at the Port Costa Schoolhouse in Port Costa on Saturday, September 24. Shows will begin at 2pm, except in Pleasanton, where the show will start at 5pm.

Free performance

No reservations are necessary. All performances are presented free to the public, and donations are welcomed after the performance. Audience members are encouraged to bring their own picnic blankets or lawn chairs, and are invited to arrive early to watch the troupe set up their stage.

Performances are presented in association with the Berkeley Marina; the City of Pleasanton; Santa Clara Players and the Santa Clara Public Library; Oakland Parks & Recreation; the Port Costa Conservation Society.

More information about attending a show, sponsoring organizations, and performance schedule at www.peripateticplayers.org.

About the Peripatetic Players

The Peripatetic Players present low-fi stage adaptations of popular literature that are accessible to theatregoers of all ages. The Players’ aesthetic is brightly-colored and homespun, and they often perform outdoors without amplification on their custom-built mobile stage, FluxWagon. The Players made their Bay Area debut with O Best Beloved, an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling stories, at the 2013 San Francisco Fringe Festival. O Best Beloved also kicked off the Peripatetic Players’ annual Bay Area parks tour in 2014, followed in 2015 by Aesop Amuck, based on the famous fables. The Peripatetic Players were created by Idiot String, a Bay Area performance collective dedicated to creating new works of ensemble theatre that are accessible to a broad audience and that inspire creativity, engagement in the physical world, and connection between people. Their work has been recognized with a Stuart Award for Excellence in Theatre, and funding from Theatre Bay Area and the San Francisco Awesome Foundation. More information at www.idiotstring.org.