Some of Michigan’s best professional and emergingprofessional artists will once again take the outdoor stage at Royal Oak’s Starr Jaycee Park this summer when Water Works Theatre Company’s Shakespeare Royal Oak festival presents Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”, directed by Kelli Rademacher.

What began in 2001 as a dream of Royal Oak native and founder Ed Nahhat has grown into an annual tradition of a professional theater festival that entertains, educates and inspires. Now in its 26th season, Shakespeare Royal Oak has become a beloved community tradition, bringing homegrown, professional outdoor theatre to the heart of the community.

“The whole idea behind it is to enhance the quality of life in the community by providing a place for artists who have professional caliber skills a place they can call home and be proud of their community,” Nahhat said.

Nahhat, an attorney with Kemp Klein Law Firm, studied theatre before law school and says he’s never lost his respect for the arts. But seeing talented performers leave Michigan for opportunities elsewhere, like New York and California, inspired him to found Shakespeare Royal Oak to build professional opportunities for local artists, giving them a reason to stay connected to the community they came from.

The name of the nonprofit organization that produces the festival, Water Works Theatre Company, comes from the old Water Works Park that inspired his vision back in 2001. But now it teaches the company to “water our own,” Nahhat said. Through KidsAct! and SRO Teen Ensemble, children and teens get the opportunity to not only learn Shakespeare but also act in front of the community – a good steppingstone for some who move on to professional acting, and many who learn enhanced communication skills in life.

In the park, young students learn everything: safe sword fighting to improv and iambic pentameter and dance. During Shakespeare Royal Oak each summer, students will perform for the public. The elementary and middle schoolers present their show on Saturday morning after a week of learning in the park, while high school students get to put on an abbreviated version of a Shakespeare play live for a donation-only audience.

For Nahhat, this summer’s mainstage show is special because director Rademacher is a product of the theater company’s home-grown mission.

“She’s the artist with the vision,” Nahhat said. “Her very first professional play in her career was with us, in our very first show in 2001, so we like to sort of grow our own here.”

Another performer cast in this year’s show is a graduate of SRO’s education programs and is now studying theater at Ohio State University.

“We’re pretty proud of her,” he said, mentioning others who have grown up with the company for the past two decades.

This year’s production will be set in 1830s Detroit. In typical Shakespeare fashion, it tells the tale of Shakespeare’s most famous comedic woman, Rosalind, being banished from Detroit and sent out to the woods of Royal Oak.

With professionalism as SRO’s guiding principle, the set will be built according to a professional design from scratch, and the specially designed costumes will represent the era of the play.

All these local professional artists will take the Shakespeare Royal Oak stage with performances from July 23-August 2, on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are just $35 and can be purchased in advance at www.shakespeareroyaloak.com or at the Starr Jaycee Park box office on 13 Mile Road. Group rates are available for parties of 10-plus as well.

Whatever size your group is, Nahhat advises, bring your favorite lawn chair or a blanket and come on time to get a good spot to enjoy a “summer night under the stars with Shakespeare.

“Just don’t bring rain,” he laughed.