A local theatre company has asked attendees to bring chairs and blankets to sit in a park in Brewer for 21 years. Next year, they won’t have to.
When Ten Bucks Theatre put on a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Indian Trail Park in July, their stage was an unplanned reflection of the enchanted forest where the play is set. Surrounded by trees and grass used by audience members as seating, the company’s wood stage blended in with Shakespeare’s setting of a forest outside Athens, Greece.
Julie Arnold Lisnet, treasurer of the company’s board of directors, said the background was great for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” but the addition of seats and an eventual permanent amphitheater is a welcome upgrade that will improve future productions.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Lisnet said.
The seats would be open for any use, but will allow audience members of plays and other events to avoid having to bring their own blankets or chairs as a new amphitheater is built at the space in the next three years.
The seats are part of multiple upgrades to the park that will take place within the next three years over multiple phases. The block seating headlines the first phase and will create an area for nearly 100 attendees, Renee Doble, the deputy director of economic development in Brewer, said.
The seats will be added to the park this fall with other additions, including a paved walkway to the granite blocks, expanded parking and a permanent stage. These changes will be made throughout the next three years, Doble said.
This is one step Brewer is taking to improve the parks across the city, which is a key point in Brewer’s economic plan, Doble said.
“If you create a place that people want to be, explore and relax in, they’re more likely to want to live there or start a business there,” she said.
The granite blocks will couple with other park improvements and nearby food trucks to bring in more visitors, even when Shakespeare isn’t being recited. The seats and other enhancements are meant to open the park for concerts, plays and other activities with a more permanent space.
The project is being done by Lou Silver Inc., a Veazie-based construction company, as part of a $265,000 contract.
The changes will bring more opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy the area and will increase the number of businesses in the city by having a group of food trucks take up shop in the parking lot. The food trucks also create opportunities for new businesses to move to the city, Doble said.
“It’s always great for the community when we have more businesses come into Brewer,” Doble said.
The stage that will be added in a future phase will be large enough for plays, small concerts and other events that will add to what the park can offer.
None of the changes or improvements will affect the popular sledding hill, Doble said.
Ten Bucks Theatre’s next show in Brewer will be in summer of 2026, when two weeks of Shakespeare will be performed for the first time in front of the seats.
