Shakespeare Northwest — formerly the Western Washington Shakespeare Festival — stages The Bard’s plays “The Merchant of Venice’’ and “All’s Well That Ends Well’’ July 31 through Aug. 10 at McIntyre Hall on the Skagit Valley College campus in Mount Vernon. The troupe will also present free performances of the comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream’’ in local parks, including Maiben Park in Burlington, Riverfront Park in Sedro-Woolley and at 5 p.m. Aug. 7, and 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Aug. 9 the Skagit County Fair in Mount Vernon.

Shakespeare Northwest is sponsored in part by Skagit County, the City of Mount Vernon and festival members. Tickets start at $15, with two plays for $22 with the season subscription discount. They are available through McIntyre Hall at (360) 416-7727 or ticketing.mcintyrehall.org.

This is the first year at McIntyre Hall for the group, which has been staging plays at a 300-seat outdoor amphitheater constructed at the Celtic Arts Stage on the banks of the Skagit River.

“All’s Well That Ends Well’’ is presented at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 1, 2, 7 and 10, and at 2 p.m. Aug. 3 and 9. “The Merchant of Venice’’ is staged at 7:30 p.m. July 31 and Aug.  3. 6, 8 and 9, with matinees at 2 p.m. Aug. 2 and 10.

Friendship and love triumph over faithlessness and hatred in “The Merchant of Venice.’’ Young Bassanio needs a loan of 3,000 ducats so that he can properly woo the wealthy heiress Portia. He asks his merchant friend Antonio for the money, but Antonio’s money is invested in merchant ships at sea. To help Bassanio, Antonio agrees to a short-term loan from Shylock, who resents the insulting treatment he has received from him. The deal: if the 3,000 ducats are not repaid in three months, Shylock will exact a pound of flesh from Antonio. Romantic episodes are interwoven throughout the play. The relations between the sexes are problematic in “All’s Well That Ends Well,’’ which dwells on the potential hazards of sexuality.

The cast of “The Merchant of Venice includes Angus McLane as Shylock, David Cox as Antonio and Robert Olguin as Bassanio. In “All’s Well That Ends Well,’’ Chelan Finney is Helena, Emmett Brost is Bertram and Steve Denzel is the king of France.

“Midsummer’’ follows a group of lovers who spend a night in the forest, where they are the victims of fairies’ pranks and enchantments. One of the best-known lines is, “Lord, what fools these mortals be!’’