Yes, I participate.  It's what keeps me sane.

Not only do I act, but I also direct and work on the crew, and I am chair of my home theater company's board.  There are many fine, talented people in community theater who use it as an outlet for their creativity.  I've done Shakespeare, some other classics (e.g., "Arsenic and Old Lace", "Death of a Salesman"), and more recent, original stuff.  My company even does parodies of old TV shows ("Twilight Zone" in particular).

Probably the best story I have comes from the first show I did with this company.  There was one performance where I was looking at the audience (sometimes it is okay to break the fourth wall, especially with Shakespeare--we were doing "The Tempest") and noticed, smack dab in the middle of the first row, a woman breast-feeding her baby.  The show must go on, so I did my best to ignore it.  That's the only thing that really sticks out from that first run.

Tomorrow I will be sober, but you will still be ugly.

My city has an annual free Shakespeare in the Park Community Theatre group. They do a decent job. Some years are better than others, but I must say, this year's presentation of Othello was superb. Some of the best acting I have ever seen.

Plus, since it is free, when the actors ask for contributions at the end you can tip them in beer. It's kind of like a bonus. It makes for hilarity when some kid comes up to ask Mr. Othello-man for a picture and he has to hide all the bottles of trendy imported beer yuppies handed him off under his robes while mom snaps the camera.

The only down side I have heard, and I do not know if this is true, is that the actor's unions have a problem with their members being involved in non-paying community theater. This means that the director needs to get a special dispensation from the union or use less experienced people. However, each play I have seen so far has had at least one cast member with the * next to their name saying they are in the union or trade guild, so maybe they are easy to get.

Good Guys Win! Bad Guys Lose! And as always, Trees & Things PREVAILS!