'A real magic': Iowa County's American Players Theatre offers a special experience

Konrad Strzalka, Dubuque Telegraph Herald

SPRING GREEN, Wis. — Deep in the wooded hills of Iowa County, scripts both modern and centuries-old come to life.

American Players Theatre, across the Wisconsin River from Spring Green, features 110 acres of typical Driftless Area scenery, as well as 300 hard-working artists, artisans and staff who put their hearts and souls into each performance.

“You need to come here because it’s not what you expect at all,” said Artistic Director Brenda DeVita. “The work is so exceptional because the people who choose to work this hard ... just tend to be an extraordinary group of artists. It calls on people who want to work hard for the sake of the play because nobody gets rich or famous here — they never have and never will. Everyone here is working on something that’s not about them.”

The property consists of the Hill Theatre — a 1,075-seat outdoor amphitheater, and the 200-seat indoor Touchstone Theatre. From June to November, APT produces nine plays in rotating repertory.

APT staged its first production in 1980, but the early years were difficult. The theater planned to close in 1986 due to financial difficulties, until a grassroots fundraising effort saved it.

In recent decades, it’s only been up. The theater boasts an annual attendance of nearly 100,000, according to Managing Director Sara Young. Unlike many theaters, attendance at APT has mostly rebounded since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, APT received the 2026 Regional Theatre Tony Award at the 79th Tony Awards Ceremony in New York City.

DeVita credits the people around her for the theater’s success.

“The work has always been good, but it’s just gotten better and better and better,” DeVita said. “I’m just really proud of the work and the people who work here.”

Director and Core Company Actor Laura Rook heaped praise right back at DeVita and other leadership.

“It doesn’t feel like there’s a hierarchy here,” Rook said. “Our leadership is very willing to be vulnerable, willing to admit when we make mistakes and fall short and (encourage us) to keep going and get better. They have such a dedication to pushing us forward and diversifying the kinds of directors and actors that work here and kinds of plays that we do.”

This season’s plays include:

• William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” directed by Rook, performed June 6 to Sunday, Oct. 4, at Hill Theatre.
• Eugène Ionesco’s “The Chairs,” translated by Martin Crimp and directed by Vanessa Stalling, performed June 12 to Sunday, Sept. 27, at Touchstone Theatre.
• Thornton Wilder’s “The Matchmaker,” directed by Brian Cowing, performed June 12 to Friday, Oct. 2, at Hill Theatre.
• Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya,” adapted by Nate Burger and directed by DeVita, performed June 19 to Saturday, Sept. 5, at Hill Theatre.
• Nick Green’s “Casey and Diana,” directed by Michael Herwitz, performed June 23 to Thursday, Sept. 24, at Touchstone Theatre.
• Shakespeare’s “The Two ‘Gentlemen’ of Verona,” adapted and directed by Aaron Posner, with Greg Kotis as composer and co-lyricist, performed Friday, July 31, to Saturday, Oct. 3, at Hill Theatre.
• Nathan Alan Davis’s “Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea,” directed by Tyrone Phillips and choreographed by Victor Musoni, performed Saturday, Aug. 1, to Friday, Sept. 25, at Touchstone Theatre.
• “Sueño,” translated and adapted by José Rivera from the play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, directed by Marcela Lorca, performed Friday, Aug. 7, to Saturday, Sept. 26, at Hill Theatre.
• Jen Silverman’s “Witch,” directed by Keira Fromm, performed Thursday, Oct. 22, to Sunday, Nov. 22, at Touchstone Theatre.

“I’m really proud of the vastness of the work we do,” DeVita said. “The breadth of the work that’s available on our stages right now is so exciting to us.”

DeVita highlighted “Casey and Diana” as an especially unique production.

“It’s our first openly forward gay story,” she said. “The premise is Princess Diana’s visit to the Casey House, which was the first AIDS hospice house in Canada. She shed a light on the entirety of the AIDS crisis by visiting. It’s really beautiful.”

DeVita called “As You Like It” an “accessible and gloriously joyful Shakespeare comedy,” with Rook adding it is “very funny, but very deep and heartfelt.”

Rook, who also has an acting role this year, in “Sueño,” called that play “interesting and abstract and cool.”

“It has a lot of humor in it and is asking the big questions, but it’s also very mystical and dreamlike,” Rook said. “It covers all kinds of stuff in terms of power dynamics and politics and life and love and purpose. This adaption is very contemporary and witty. I’m really excited to work on it.”

The theater’s remote location is an asset to the artists who work there.

“You can get everyone’s focus and attention and lose their egos,” DeVita said.

Once visitors accept they are at the mercy of the elements — and at the mercy of mosquitos — the outdoor nature of the Hill Theatre also becomes an asset to them. Guests are encouraged, before the show, to take advantage of the plethora of picnicking tables at the property.

DeVita said she believes experiencing a show at the Hill Theatre is life changing.

“When the shows start, it’s daytime, and the actors can see 1,000 people looking at them ... and the audience can see each other,” DeVita said. “The birds are overhead and the sky is getting dark and the stars come out and the moon comes out. There is a real magic to that kind of communion of live human beings, in a house of 1,000 people, dead silent at the end of ‘Uncle Vanya’ for three minutes while the birds and stars are there. There’s something special there, and we believe something really necessary for humans to experience.”

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