While directing the annual Shakespeare in the Arb productions over the past 10 years, University of Michigan professor Kate Mendeloff has experienced some odd things: In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” just as Puck delivered a line about taking on different forms, including that of a dog, three dogs ran through the scene, barking, then disappeared; while rehearsing a scene in “As You Like It,” a banished duke talked of his sadness over shooting a deer, and then a family of deer appeared nearby; and, many times, Shakespeare’s language has been accompanied (and sometimes overwhelmed) by the noise of airplanes, trains, and helicopters.

“In ‘The Tempest,’ I directed the actors to take out their swords and wave them at the strange noises and roaring beasts of the land and air, and the audience loved it,” said Mendeloff.

But this local favorite annual tradition began with “Midsummer,” and in honor of the 10-year anniversary of staging Shakespeare plays at Nichols Arboretum, Mendeloff and her cast of students and community members are making a return trip to “Midsummer”’s enchanted forest.

“’Midsummer’ is in many ways a perfect play,” Mendeloff said. “It creates four distinct worlds and shows what happens when these worlds intersect. … People of all ages can relate to some aspect of the story. We older folks know about adolescent love; the younger ones are wrapped up in the magic of the fairy world; and we can all laugh at the jokes Shakespeare makes about theater and bombastic actors.”

The 2010 version of “Midsummer” in the Arb will combine new ideas with a few elements from the original Arb production.

Puck, for instance, will again be played by three actors simultaneously; many of the park sites in the original production will be used again; and the fairy costumes will be the same as those from the 2001 “Midsummer.”

“They were constructed by our choreographer, who was a dancer, and who tore up her old leotards and tights to make them,” said Mendeloff. “I have had them in my basement for all these years, and we … hope they will last for another season.”

One new addition this year, however, will involve incorporating musicians — three Steiner School students who play flute, violin and oboe — into the fairy world; and an extended, four-weekend run (the show will play throughout June).

But what kind of things have changed in general about Shakespeare in the Arb over 10 years? For starters, Ford Motor Company funded the inaugural production, so the performances were free that first year; since then, the company has had to charge for tickets, limit the audience size, and become dependent upon the previous year’s box office receipts for funding (so multiple rain-outs in a given year have proven costly).

Also, the Arb productions initially featured only student actors, for the most part; but over time, U-M faculty and community members have gotten more involved.

“My original idea, which is still my major directorial concept, is to have the audience enter the world of the play, and to feel that they are part of the action,” said Mendeloff. “By being inches or feet away from the performers, by extending the stage to a 180 or 360 view, the experience is that much more immediate and pervasive. Audiences can't be passive. They have to move, to react, to encounter the play directly.

“And I want them to experience the glories of nature — to hear birds, feel breezes and get the visceral pleasure of hearing great language and seeing beauty of a sort they don't (usually) get to focus on. The tradition has more than stayed true to my original vision — it has expanded it. I had not directed much Shakespeare before I started in 2001. Now I feel that I have a real feel for the material and a way of visualizing it and bringing it to life.”

Other Shakespeare plays that Mendeloff has staged in the Arb include “Love’s Labors Lost,” “As You Like It,” “The Tempest,” and “Twelfth Night.” But of all of them, “Midsummer” lends itself best to outdoor performance.

“This play is about people transforming through the experience of nature — which is what I hope happens to our audience,” Mendeloff said. “ … Somehow, because the fairies are not human, we need to come into their world on their terms.”

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.