A battle of wits, mythical creatures, and an evening surrounded by Chinese lanterns are foreseen in this year’s Shakespeare in the Arb production, as directors senior Catherine Sims and junior Lily Owen take on the challenge of “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.”
“I’m really excited. It’s going to be a really good performance,” senior Andrew Kuiper said. “I’m really excited about the night performance. We’re going to try to light it with Chinese lanterns!”
“It is an absolute blast! So much fun,” senior Trevor Anderson said. “What is exciting is the cast. And obviously you can’t beat the material.”
The four lovers of “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” are played by Anderson as Demitrius, senior Natalie Doran as Helena, Kuiper as Lysander, and freshman Leslie Reyes as Hermia.
“It’s going to be so great,” said freshman Meredith Caton, who plays the part of the impish Puck. “Our directors are great. They love literature. The cast is great, too. [The play] is easy to work with, and we’re molding it into a great production.”
According to Owen, the cast is hilarious with or without the script, and Shakespeare just makes the experience more hysterical.
“I think that we have an exceptionally wonderful cast,” she said. “We can hardly even practice without cracking up. We’ve been considering doing an impromptu showing because that’s basically what practice is like.”
As the costume and design director, Owen is in charge of preparing the costumes for the upcoming performance.
“[There is some ] eclectic costuming because we’ve been taking from people’s wardrobes,” she said. “So there are a few secrets.”
“Lily is in charge of [the costuming], and the play within the play is going to be awesome,” Anderson said. “I don’t know if I can say any more, but it’s going to be sensational.”
This year Owen and Sims have planned for an evening showing on May 5, allowing for an evening experience of “A Midsummer’s Night Dream,” as well as the usual Sunday afternoon performance on May 6.
“We’re hoping to have an evening performance this year, instead of Saturday afternoon, so we’re figuring out how the lighting will work,” Sims said.
Another new feature is the casting of children as the crucial but generally silent characters: using them as goblins and fairies.
“We’re still working on it, but it will be open to any children who want to. We still have to meet with the parents about costumes and dress rehearsals,” Sims said. “It’s pretty low commitment, and we want as many as want to come.”
Much of this idea stems from the childhood of some of the cur- rent cast members, Owen said.
“One of Catherine and I’s earliest memories was being fairies in the play,” she said. “My mom would spend weeks scraping glitter off of my scalp because showering just wasn’t enough.”
Between the night showing, the costuming, and the variety in casting, the directors anticipate a brilliant show.
