American Players Theatre, an outdoor Shakespearean repertory company, tapped into the collective memory of its loyal patrons, cast and crew to assemble this 25th-anniversary accumulation of anecdotes and images spanning the theater’s first quarter-century.
APT’s rural setting among rolling hills and lush summer woods makes for a rich and ever-changing sensual experience. The Book of Lore’s seven chapters (“Land,” “Convergence,” “Nature,” “Language,” “Love,” “War” and “Transformation”) reflect this engaging setting with densely layered pages, an earthy palette and natural imagery. Each chapter tells its story with a distinct design, format and voice, united with the others under the spreading canopy of APT’s iconic oak tree, which graces the cover. We chose a thematic structure rather than chronological flow to encourage nonlinear visits to the hundreds of stories and images within.