Georgia Shakespeare's Shake at the Lake

7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. Free. Piedmont Park's Lake Clara Meer lawn, near the 12th Street entrance, Atlanta. 404-264-0020, www.gashakespeare.org .

After a year off because of funding cuts, Georgia Shakespeare's popular Shake at the Lake shows return this week. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" will go on May 5-9, overlooking Lake Clara Meer inside Piedmont Park.

If you're out of practice after a year's lakeside Shakespeare hiatus, here are some ticketing and packing tips before you head to the show:

1. All performances are free, but tickets are required. About 900 tickets are made available at 10 the morning of each performance. They can be picked up at the Piedmont Park Visitors Center, near the park's 12th Street entrance, or at the Georgia Shakespeare box office inside Conant Performing Arts Center at Oglethorpe University. Tickets will be distributed as wrist bands and are good only for that night's show. Each person is limited to four tickets. Go early -- crowds have been known to gather as early as 6 a.m. for weekend tickets.

2. If you can't get tickets early in the day, there are a few other options. A waiting list starts at 5:30 p.m. at Piedmont Park, but wait-listers aren't guaranteed admission. Subscribers are allowed to skip the line and reserve in advance one wristband for each subscription purchased; a subscriber who signs up as late as Saturday could lock in a ticket to Sunday's show. Subscriptions cost $40-$200.

3. Feel free to bring the kids, but remember, they need wristbands, too. This year's Shake at the Lake show is a remount of last year's popular and family-friendly production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." It's directed by John Dillon and features Chris Kayser as Bottom, Daniel Thomas May as Demetrius and Tess Malis Kincaid as Titania. The romantic comedy runs about two hours and ends around 10 p.m.

4. The venue opens at 6 p.m., but do not bring pets, roller blades, bicycles, scooters, folding chairs, tables, umbrellas, radios or CD players onto the lake's lawn. Chairs will be provided. Blankets are allowed, picnics are welcome, and there is reserved space for wheelchairs.