from the Blue Ridge to the Rockies, departs from

from the Blue Ridge to the Rockies, departs from its standard format for Arts on the Road.

The 10 members of Cornerstone usually stop in a town for a month to three months at a time, training local people as cast and crew for their productions of new works and revived classics. “Our goal is to go into different American communities, learn what makes good theater, and try to inspire a love of theater in new and varied audiences. We tailor our productions to the needs and interests of the communities we visit,” explained Bill Rauch, director and founder of the McLean-based group. “We take everything we’ve learned by going out and working with people - what they enjoy - and we’re able to apply it.”

“What’s great about this minitour to Rappahannock and the five other Virginia communities is that we can reach a lot more people a lot quicker,” Mr. Rauch continued. “In two weeks, we can reach as many people as would normally take four months.”

Cornerstone will present a specially staged version of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Washington’s Gay Street Theater on Saturday, Feb. 13. This new treatment of Shakespeare’s comedy promises the unexpected. “An exclusive! It will be a pretty wacky production,” the director said. Actors will play the central characters - two pairs of lovers - and puppets will comprise the rest of the cast. “It’s going to be a fun show,” Mr. Rauch said, adding that making it fun is of primary importance to Cornerstone.

“Part of our theory about teaching diverse audiences to love theater is to teach each audience to interpret a production as they like,” he explained. “Just because it’s written as a tragedy doesn’t mean each member of the audience will respond to it that way.” Cornerstone maintains that people should react to art individually in the way that excites them