Apollinaire in the Park - 30th anniversary celebration

Apollinaire Theatre Company presents

Apollinaire in the Park

FESTIVAL

This year, in celebration of Apollinaire’s 30th anniversary, we’re thrilled to debut a brand-new version of Apollinaire in the Park on September 20 and 21: a dynamic Festival and Open House that invites the community to experience theater in a more informal and interactive way.

The entire Chelsea Theatre Works building, along with the surrounding street and park, will come alive with Free Performances, a Beer Garden with Local Food and Craft Vendors, Live Music, Art Exhibitions, Youth Activities, Bilingual Programming, Workshops, a Squirrel Fashion Show and two Free theater-themed Escape Rooms.

The marquee event of this festival will reunite actors from across Apollinaire’s three decades to collaborate on an original play created and performed within just 48 hours!

The 48 Hour Play at 7:00 on Saturday will lead into Apollinaire's 25/26 Season Announcement, followed by Live Music!

Bent Water Brewing Company will host the Beer Garden, which will feature food from Local Restaurants as well as art and crafts from local artisans.

A Festival highlight will be two Theater-themed Escape Rooms designed by Actor/Director Brooks Reeves:

45 Minutes to Curtains!

Chelsea's greatest detectives have been summoned to Apollinaire Theatre to prevent a murder in the making! An ill-fated production, squabbling actors, and 45 minutes to examine the dressing room of the most dysfunctional production in the Greater Boston Area and prevent disaster. You better solve the mystery or it's... CURTAINS!!

The Unquiet Room

Hidden away at Apollinaire Theatre is a locked room, so eerie, so cursed, that few dare to enter and solve its secrets. Some say that a precious treasure is hidden within, but protected by mischievous spirits who will do everything they can to confound those who dare and try. Are you brave enough to enter... THE UNQUIET ROOM??

Sunday we focus on the work of Teatro Chelsea:

In addition to the youth activities, music, and games in the Beer Garden, we’ll celebrate Teatro in the BlackBox Theatre:

1:00- Workshop with Cristhian Mancinas-García: Como avanzar tu carrera de actor en Boston

2:00- New Works Symposium: Inside A-Tipico-From Submission to World Premiere

3:00- Reading: Sneak Peak of beautiful land (la linda tierra)

4:00- Teatro Chelsea Season Announcement followed by music from Los Gallos Locos

Musical Highlights include cabaret performers from Longwood Players, Mariachi singer Carmen Serrato, Live Bands, and performances by our Actor/Singers and Special Guests. Alan Kuang & Bulletproof Funk will be blowing folks away with their amazing breakdancing throughout the day on Saturday.

We will also offer workshops for adults and youth. Chiara Durazzini of Pazzi Lazzi Troupe with offer "Masks in Motion - An Introduction to Commedia dell’Arte.” Cristhian Mancinas-García with offer 3 sessions of “Working as an Actor in Boston,” one for youth, one for adults, and one for all ages in Spanish. Parker Jennings will offer “How to Die on Stage."

Activities for Youth include youth music and dance performances from 1-2, followed at 2:00 by It’s Elementary performed by Apollinaire Play Lab students. There will also be Face Painting and Lawn Games.

There will also be exhibits of professional and youth Art. Join us in the Apollinaire Gallery to see the work of great artists who have been a part of our history, vote for your favorite, or become part of that history by placing a bid and taking a work home. Youth art will be on display in the Riseman Family Theatre.

Saturday will feature a one and only Squirrel Fashion Show. Designers have repurposed our costumes from our recent production of The Squirrels into unique creations which will be on display in the BlackBox Theatre on Saturday and available for purchase via Silent Auction, and featured in a Fashion Show on the stage in the Beer Garden.

September 20 & 21, 2025

Sat. 1-9, Sun. 1-5 (subject to modification in case of rain)

At the Chelsea Theatre Works, 189 Winnisimmet St., Chelsea & in Chelsea Square in front of the Theater.

FREE!

Information, directions, and schedule updates at www.apollinairetheatre.com

Apollinaire Theatre Company creates unique encounters with plays that inspire and entertain. Our programs -Teatro Chelsea, Apollinaire Play Lab, Apollinaire in the Park, Resident Artist Program- complement our production season and cultivate an ecosystem of artists of all ages and career stages in our home for adventurous art, the Chelsea Theatre Works.

Apollinaire productions include our summer immersive bilingual productions The Suppliant Women, Hamlet, And Your Little Dog Too, and Romeo and Juliet, as well as Touching the Void adapted by David Greig, Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan MacMillan, Don’t Eat the Mangos by Ricardo Pérez González (co-production with Teatro Chelsea), Dance Nation by Clare Barron, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven by Young Jean Lee, and The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart by David Greig.