Hampshire Shakespeare Company, Amherst

Each summer, as stars glitter in the sky, Hampshire Shakespeare Company illuminates the crowd below with open-air renditions of the Bard's greatest hits. As showgoers lounge on their blankets, chairs, or elephants, the company stages interpretations of Shakespeare's plays that prize intelligibility and entertainment. In addition to its main-stage shows, the Hampshire Shakespeare Company also puts on a youth theater production each year to give youngsters a taste of the stage, and buoys playwrights from throughout the Valley with workshops and readings.