mystery date, or shakespeare in the park

tonight i took rob on a surprise date of sorts. he had it figured out by the time we went to dinner, but there was something fun about not disclosing our plans ahead of time. after some noodles at z'marik's and ice cream at whitey's, we went to the riverside shakespeare festival's performance of a midsummer night's dream.
this is what we were up to the last time we were at the festival stage at city park. somehow, we hadn't managed to see any plays here (flooding moved last year's shows to the city high auditorium--we saw a comedy of errors) until tonight.
it was a hot, humid and still evening, but the funny and skillful performances along with communal insect repellent and being able to bring cold beers to our seats made it a lovely night of outdoor theatre. rob also valiantly rescued a toad from certain death by trampling when he scooped up the little guy who was hopping down the aisle minutes before the cast came running off the stage and the audience filed out...

"...a sweet-face man; a proper man, as one shall see in a summer's day."
-a midsummer night's dream, act 1, scene 2