Director’s Note
The real world can be kind of frustrating and even downright depressing sometimes, so come play with us in the forest instead! A Midsummer Night’s Dream explores important themes such as the power of love in any conflict and the importance of not taking life too seriously. In a time when life can be full of confusion, conflict, and commiseration, it is so much easier to frolic in the woods at night, so that’s what we will do!
This story centers around a love quad-rangle between Hermia and Lysander and Helena and Demetrius, but it has a couple of significant sub-plots as well. While the lovers are tangling themselves up, falling in love as quickly as they fall out of it, only Puck, lieutenant to the King of the Fairies, Oberon, can be to blame. Oberon and his Fairy Queen, Titania, are arguing over a young boy, and as a result, end up fiddling with who loves who in the mortal world. Meanwhile, Peter Quince and his friends, the Mechanicals, are trying to put on a tragic play to perform for the Duke and Duchess of Athens at their wedding. We threw in our own flare with the Fairy Ensemble, a group of 12 students who wrote and choreographed songs to perform as interludes between the acts. Every word is from the act that precedes the interludes, but these fantastic fairies collaborated to create musical movements to support the themes in the show.
This show came together in a similarly trying time for many of our students; thrust into a new year with both a mix of hope and concern for the future, these students rose to the challenge of tackling one of Shakespeare’s funniest, silliest works. The countless hours of preparation, of long tech days and stumbling through lines, has paid off in the incredible piece of theatre you see today. People always say that it will come together at the end, and this production exemplifies the power that the love for theatre art can have. I have been astounded by the team effort put into this production, and I could not have done it without the helpful insight of my two assistant directors, Eliza and Charity.
I could not be more honored to be a part of such a creative and eclectic group, and I would like to express my extreme gratitude for the hard work put into this production. The incredible parent support provided the backbone for us, while the sincere dedication of the actors and technicians allowed the show its grace. It took the commitment of every person involved to make this show successful, and I could not be more proud of the work we have done together.
Rachel Novi Wickham
Director of Drama
