GREAT SHAKES: If it’s summer, that means Shakespeare’s taking over area stages. In Dallas, that means Shakespeare Dallas’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream, currently playing at Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre. Lawson Taitte took it in recently, and in his dallasnews.com review, writes, “The production does its best to trample the Bard’s magical script about human lovers and malicious fairies. The first scene alone – with its overplayed lines, fake ho-ho-ho laughter and huge gestures that look as though the performers are trying to communicate with hearing-impaired visitors from outer space – is enough to drive you from your picnic spread back to your car.” To be fair, he goes on to say a few well-played scenes rescue the show. Heading west, Trinity Shakespeare Festival’s got Julius Caesar up and running at TCU. “The real killer aspect of this show is an incredibly strong cast, led by Richard Haratine, as Brutus, and Alex Organ, as Anthony,” Punch Shaw writes on dfw.com. “The former delivers a highly forceful, externalized performance, while the latter demonstrates an exceptional talent for internalizing his character.”

A CONCERT ON YOUR COUCH: Are you a fan of Sarah Jaffe? Would you like her to perform in your living room? Then you’re in luck. She’s in the process of setting up a series of Living Room shows for the end of this month – one in Dallas, one in Denton. If your house gets picked, you’ll be hosting 40-50 people, and you’ll get to invite five of your own friends. Interested? E-mail [email protected].

40 UNDER 40: The Dallas Business Journal as revealed its list of 40 Under 40 business professionals. And a couple of arts administrators have made the list. First up is Catherine Cuellar, the newly named executive director of the Dallas Arts District. Also making the list is Bill DiGaetano,  chief operating officer for the Alamo Draft House, which opens in August.