"Much Ado About Nothing" is this Month!

Our Summer production of William Shakespeare’s comedy "Much Ado About Nothing" opens this month! Just a reminder that all performances are FREE! We will take a free will donation following all performances. Bring your lawn chairs for all outdoor performances and prepare to laugh and enjoy an afternoon or evening of comedy.

Performances:

Friday, July 19 @ 6PM - Dassel History Center*
Saturday, July 20 @ 6PM - Jomas Winery (Darwin)
Sunday, July 21 @ 2PM - Litchfield Opera House (Litchfield)*
Thursday, July 25 @ 6PM - Masonic Park (Hutchinson)
Friday, July 26 @ 6PM - Peterson Park (Cokato)
Saturday, July 27 @ 6PM - Crow River Winery (Hutchinson)
Sunday, July 28 @ 2PM - Dassel History Center*
* Indicates indoor performance 

A comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599. The primary plot of Much Ado About Nothing turns on the courtship and scandal involving young Hero and her suitor, Claudio, but the witty war of words between Claudio's friend Benedick and Hero's cousin Beatrice often takes center stage. Set in Messina, the play begins as Don Pedro's army returns after a victory.

Some of the cast rehearsing recently in the great outdoors outside of the Dassel History Center.

Summer Youth Theatre Camp is this Month!

In partnership with The FungusAmongus Players of Dassel-Cokato, Community Education will be holding a Summer Youth Theatre Camp July 22 - 26. Students will showcase the skills they gain in a FREE public performance on Friday July 26 at 5:30 PM at the Dassel-Cokato Performing Arts Center. Don't miss your chance to sign up your student for what will be an unforgettable experience!

This week-long theatre camp will give students the opportunity to develop their theatre and acting skills in a fun and interactive environment. Through games and activities, these young actors will explore ways to express their creativity and spontaneity as well as build their confidence. Besides covering theatre basics (like stage movement, blocking annotation and scoring a script) students will explore physicality and character expression, scene creation and interaction, improving dialogue and using body language as well as narrative structures and story arcs. Then campers will take the tools they learned all week in rehearsals to present a FREE final showcase performance for friends, family and fellow campers that they have created, written, and developed throughout the camp. Please indicate a t-shirt size at registration.

FungusAmongus to Present at FastFest 2024

The FungusAmongus Players will be bringing a show to Fast*Fest 2024 held in Cloquet MN on August 17. "Death Knocks" by Woody Allen will be presented to "liven" things up. Both David Metcalf and Ron Hungerford will be reprising their roles from when this one act was performed during our evening of short plays in March of 2023. This along with 14 other shows from across MN will be presented. More information below regarding FastFest from our friends at the Minnesota Association of Community Theaters:

How does seeing 15 shows in one day sound to you? If that sounds exciting, you don’t want to miss Fast*Fest on August 16 & 17 in Cloquet.  Registration is now open for our biennial festival of 20-minute (max) plays.

Join us Friday evening, August 15, from 7 – 9 pm for a welcome open house at the Encore Performing Arts center. This is a chance for the presenting theatres to view the stage and facility and gather with other festival participants. Beverages (wine & sodas) will be available to purchase from the theatre.

Then come back at 9 am, Saturday morning, August 17, for the first performance session featuring shows from Penny Pinchin’ Productions, County Seat Theater Company, Ole Olson Onstage, Classics Lost ‘N’ Found Theatre Company and Thorn Productions.

At 1:30 pm, Saturday afternoon will be performance session 2. Mindless Mirth Productions, NKB Productions, Rhubarb Jam, Zenith City Players and Marshall Area Stage Company will be presenting shows in this session.

New this festival is a dinner at the theatre between the afternoon and evening performance sessions. The dinner is included in full packages only. It cannot be purchased a la carte. The menu (subject to change) will include pulled pork sandwiches, a vegie/pasta salad, chips, other fixin’s, cookies and water.

The performances wind up at 6:30 that evening with performance session 3. This session will include shows from Seat of Your Pants Players, Open Heart Theatre, Pargeter Players, Applause Community Theatre and FungusAmongus Players. Some shows in this session may contain language or situations that may not be suitable for all ages.

After the final performance Saturday night, we will again gather at the theatre for light snacks and socializing. Beverages (wine and sodas) will be available for purchase.

A full package is only $50 and includes the Friday and Saturday night socials, all three performance sessions and the Saturday evening dinner.

Tickets for individual performance sessions are available for $20 per performance session. (The Saturday evening dinner is NOT available for a la carte purchase – it is only available as part of the full package.)

2024 - 2025 Season to be announced at "Much Ado About Nothing"!

The FungusAmongus Board of Directors are pleased to announce that our 2024 - 2025 season has been selected and will be announced on opening night of "Much Ado About Nothing". If you are unable to attend that first performance keep your eyes focused on social media channels as we will be dropping hints as we get closer to the big announcement!

FungusAmongus to Participate in Corn Carnival and Red Rooster Parades

Calling all Fungus alumni! FungusAmongus will be marching in the Cokato Corn Carnival Parade on Monday, August 12 at 6PM and at the Dassel Red Rooster Days Grand Parade Saturday, August 31 at 2PM. All volunteers are welcome to join us as we hand out our new season bookmarks and candy. Wear a past production t-shirt! Message us via social media or email if interested in participating. 

So many ways to have fun with FungusAmongus!

You don't need to be on stage to have fun with FungusAmongus. For example, we're always looking for: 

• AV Club members - learn to run sound or light for our shows! We are still in need of sound technicians for "Much Ado About Nothing" this summer.

• Stage Managing / Crew Members. Do you want to help behind the scenes with the magic that goes on during the show? Help manage the stage and with set during our productions!

• Treat wranglers. Could you bake some yummy bars for us to serve at intermission? Could you serve those treats and coffee at our shows?

• Stud sensors. Can you drive a nail, or paint a wall, or perhaps work some interior design magic? Our set-building crew is looking for you.

Get started by contacting us through our website or social media channels.