A traveling Shakespeare production is coming to the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library on July 11, but for director Nick Auletti, the performance is part of a much larger mission to bring live theater directly into Long Island communities.
The Greenport-based Northeast Stage company will open its East End tour at 1 p.m. at the library’s main branch on William Floyd Parkway with “All’s Well That Ends Well,” one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known comedies. The play follows Helena, a physician’s daughter determined to win the love of the nobleman Bertram, while exploring themes of accountability, class, love and redemption.
The performance is one of eight scheduled stops that will take the troupe to libraries, parks and public spaces across the region this summer.
Auletti, an East Quogue native and librarian trainee at the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library, helped create the tour as a way to make theater more accessible to local audiences.
“This is really a labor of love,” Auletti said. “I love my library job, and I love theater. Being able to bring those two worlds together is really a dream come true.”
The production features a cast of 14 actors and a supporting team handling marketing, production and community outreach. Auletti wears multiple hats himself, helping secure grants, serving as a producer and director, and performing in the show as First Lord Dumaine.
The company has spent weeks transporting sets, costumes and equipment from venue to venue while rehearsing in public spaces.
“We’ve been traveling with our set and costumes and people stop and ask what we’re doing,” Auletti said. “We tell them we’re doing a show and invite them to watch.”
Auletti deliberately chose “All’s Well That Ends Well” because it is rarely performed. He said Northeast Stage’s production offers a fresh interpretation that emphasizes the story’s themes of personal responsibility and female empowerment while remaining faithful to Shakespeare’s timeless characters.
Northeast Stage has already built relationships with local libraries through educational workshops in Mattituck, Southold, Greenport and other communities. The group also conducted a special-needs workshop designed to introduce Shakespeare in a fun and engaging way.
Auletti said one of his goals is to challenge the notion that Shakespeare is difficult or inaccessible.
“Shakespeare is not scary,” he said. “If you spend time with the text, you find universal themes that are still relevant today.”
Following the Shirley performance, the troupe will continue its East End tour with appearances in Patchogue, Westhampton Beach, Riverhead, Greenport and several other communities.