I asked Chris Campbell of the Woodward Shakespeare Festival for an update about the ongoing noise issue with the amphitheater. The July 23 cage fighting match prompted a public debate that continues, and I was wondering how Saturday night's production of "Hamlet" fared against the Timmy T concert. Campbell responds:

Thank you for asking. Unfortunately, all of the concurrent events at the amphitheater have been distracting to some degree for those acting in and watching Hamlet. Interestingly, we have gotten the most outpouring of audience comment about the cage fighting but we cannot really say that it was louder or more distracting than the amplified music and the often enthusiastically screaming crowds that attracts. So the more vocal Hamlet audience objection to the fighting may have other motivations. Obviously, it also depends on the sensitivity of the particular audience member. On the night of the blues concert I talked to several friends, all of whom can be quite particular about their theater experience. None mentioned any displeasure about the sound although the songs were often loud enough to sing along. I was out of town this weekend so I cannot really compare the experiences.

Campbell says that Woodward Shakespeare is working collaboratively with the parks department to develop a solution for next year. He describes some possible solutions on the jump.

Campbell continues:

We certainly want the amphitheater to succeed and the parks (and the community it seems) want Shakespeare to succeed as well. We are debating whether some sort of baffling will work for the amphitheater and debating what kind of permanent facility to build for Shakespeare to keep the right sound in and the wrong sound out. Of course, that will also entail raising a lot of money. We are torn because we love the open air park atmosphere. The new space is magical and generally extremely pleasant with a refreshing breeze even following a very hot day. It is also gets much less noise from SR-41 so (other than the peacocks) it is much quieter than the amphitheater on nights when we are the only event in the park. While we want to keep that open feeling, we also want to provide the best experience of the play for our audience. Hopefully we will hit on an approach that satisfies both.

I'm glad to hear that there's dialogue between the Shakespeare folks and the city on this issue. Still, I'm a little nervous to find out just how much all this would cost. Baffling work sounds expensive. I also don't want the parks department to shrug its shoulders on the cost and leave it up to Woodward Shakespeare to raise all the money. (The implication there, of course, is that if they don't raise the money, then they'll have to put up with the noise.) For me, what it comes down to is this: If the sound issue can't be resolved for next year, then Shakespeare should get first priority with its schedule. If someone wants to book the amphitheater on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday during Shakespeare season, tough. There are four other nights of the week.

I'm also really curious about Woodward's will, which some people have been talking about. I'd like to know more about Woodward's specific instructions for the property. From my understanding (without having actually read the will), it seems that a non-profit cultural organization such as Woodward Shakespeare would be much more likely to fall into an acceptable category of park use than a for-profit cage-fighting match.

In terms of commercial uses, I'm sure that such considerations were taken into account when the Rotary Amphitheater was first constructed. Or were they? I'm guessing, too, that the Woodward family had no issues with the evolving use of the park, or there would have been legal questions about the construction and use of the amphitheater. But is it possible for community members -- who, after all, were the recipients of the bequest -- to take steps to make sure that the intentions of the original will are followed?