The Tempest Theatre is bringing back a new twist on the classic performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. DREAM brings a more modern approach to the classic play, with Director Kate Twa rebuilding the play to be more modern while still appreciating the writing of Shakespeare’s work.

DREAM originally premiered in 2025 across four outdoor locations, but this year Tempest wanted to bring new life to an old historic site located currently on Van Western Vineyards.

Tempest Theatre brings classic adaptation to historic theatre | iNwine — Naramata Home Theatre exterior photo at Van Western Vineyards

Earlier this week, the troupe was performing at what was originally the Naramata Home Theatre, a historic landmark located on Van Western Vineyards that hasn’t been used for theatre purposes in over a century. Tempest Theatre and Van Western Vineyards worked together to rekindle the old building with 7 performances, giving the building another chance to perform under the newly named Village Theatre.

Built above Carroll Aikins’ fruit packing home, the theatre was an innovative space. Beyond serving as a stage, it featured a professionally designed lighting system from a generator adapted from a tractor engine.

In 1920, Prime Minister Arthur Meighen came and held a ribbon ceremony to open the theatre, giving it the title of one of Canada’s earliest national theatres. The theatre itself ended up shutting down after 2 years with a crash in the fruit market and its inability to support itself independently. July 1, 2026, was the first performance held in the building in over 100 years of closure.