THEATER : Garden Theater Blossoms in the Summer

Summer is a busy time at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum. But then, it’s always a busy time at the Theatricum.

Last weekend, the Topanga company, whose name is Latin for “garden theater,” launched its summer repertory season with outdoor amphitheater performances of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Next month, the company will perform Philip Littell’s new translation of Moliere’s “Educated Women” and in August it will stage a revival of Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie.”

In addition, there’s a four-week Summer Teen Shakespeare Seminar and a Youth Drama Camp.

The Geer family, headed by Will Geer (whom audiences will remember as Grandpa on “The Waltons”) formed the nonprofit Theatricum in 1973, presenting free outdoor workshops and concerts. In 1978, after Geer’s death, his daughter, Ellen, coordinated the company’s educational programs and established an annual summer repertory.

“We don’t do modern things with lots of rowdy language,” said Geer, a mother of three who appears in many of the Theatricum’s summer productions and also teaches acting at UCLA. “We’re appealing to families, older people, young people. I really like it when families come together to see the work. Although last year, yes, I did suggest that young people not see ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’--too heady for the emotions.”

Geer has no such trepidation about “Macbeth,” in which she will be the alternate in the role of Lady Macbeth. “I love it because it’s a real theater piece,” she said. “The story is so perfectly and beautifully told. You don’t need to alter it for children; I took out maybe 10 minutes. Children have no problem with this. You think of what they see on the news--this play is almost storybook compared to what they are exposed to. But whatever we pick, we try to make it real approachable, something interesting for today.”

“Macbeth,” (which she is directing, along with the Moliere piece), has resonance, Geer says, “because of a lack of conscience and caring in people. It’s about greed and lust for power. The Moliere is fun, our comedy for the year; it’s about people being conned by a poet, who don’t see the faddishness and fakery of it. ‘The Glass Menagerie’ is (centered on) the Depression, a family dealing with that whole situation. We’re always trying to hit contemporary chords. It’s why these plays are classics--and why they last.”

In the summer and winter, the Theatricum also keeps busy with Shakespeare seminars (a 90-hour program, held three times a week over five weeks) for professional actors and college students--plus an annual master professionals class.

The Youth Academy holds spring, fall and summer sessions at the Theatricum (going indoors in the winter months), in a multifaceted program that includes instruction three times a week in fencing, mime, costume and prop design, improvisation, music, dance and Shakespeare study.

The Theatricum’s 15-year-old School Days program offers performances and workshops with as many as 8,000 children annually--brought in from Los Angeles County public and private elementary, junior high and high schools--and a new outreach program, Classroom Enrichment, in which company members go into local schools and help students study and perform plays.

“The favorite part for me is seeing an 8-year-old on stage, saying the lines, having confidence, understanding what he’s saying,” said actress Susan Angelo, director since 1982 of the Theatricum’s Academy of Classics. “When they start off, so many kids are afraid. To get them excited--that’s why we all do it.”

“Macbeth” plays through Sept. 18; “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will be through July 16; “Educated Women,” July 2 to Aug. 21, and “The Glass Menagerie,” Aug. 13 to Sept. 18 at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. Tickets: $12 general admission; $8.50 seniors citizens, students and Actors Equity members; $4 children age s 6 to 12; children under 5, free. Information: (310) 455-3723.