A pair of runaway lovers, a pair of jealous pursuers, then some botched divine matchmaking. Shakespeare’s revered drama “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” tells of a “love square,” among various other shenanigans, unfolding deep inside the woods around Athens.
A tale of infatuation and envy, jest and idiocy, chaos and harmony, and a human-turned-donkey-head, a production of the play by East’s theater students is set to premiere late April at the Black Box—but with some major twists.
“We didn’t want to just do [the] plain, simple ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’… We wanted to do something different, a little bit unique and special,” said junior Elise Owre, a student director in the production.
In East’s rendition, fantastical fairies become rivaling gangsters of New York City; royal nobles of ancient Greece become 1920s business tycoons, Hollywood stars and urban elites. With corresponding costumes, set and music, the classic comedy is given a drastic transformation.
“It helped really flesh out the characters better… [“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”] is really a social satire [of] social constructs and class divide,” said junior Diego Heredia, another director. “So the ’20s [theme] was perfect for that because there was a huge class divide.”
Though the language of the text is archaic, it is certainly far from dry. Furthermore, considerable effort was put into magnifying the humorous nature of the story and Shakespeare’s writing through energetic and engaging acting, sets and visuals. The directors took great creative liberty to bring the show to life, while still leaving the text largely unaltered.
“The script [has] not a lot of description; it’s just [dialogue]. And so by [trial and error], we find… the most fun way to direct it, and… a way that’s unexpected,” Heredia said. “It’s really just finding our own take on the scenes and putting our spin on this classic tale.”
The production of the “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a part of Theater III students’ studies in theater directing and Theater II’s in acting.
“As a director, you have control over the story as a whole, and you get to shape the pieces… into a full story,” said junior Iliana Morgan Chevres.
The actors are no less involved in the storytelling.
“[The directors] take our input [in] mind to try [new things],” said sophomore Evermore Love-Harman, an actor in the production. “They are more open to us asking why we do things, [and] being a part of the production process.”
With seven directors and 15 actors at work, the production abounds with innovative ideas.
“It’s challenging a lot of the time because we all have a different creative vision, and we have to agree basically on everything,” Morgan Chevres said. “Being collaborative just forces you to think outside the box. It gives the show more room to be better because you’re working with [more people]. So even though it’s harder to make decisions… we have more options.”
Ultimately, it comes down to trying and experimenting with different approaches. And even with various difficulties, junior and director Akihisa Tsuboi expressed that teamwork has always prevailed.
“There were some doubts at first, but there’s always someone there to bring us out of these doubts,” he said.
Theater teacher Hope Hynes Love also observed that, over time, an “ensemble attitude” of mutual cooperation and support has developed.
“Everybody feels safe… and there is no risk of failure, there’s only opportunity,” Hynes Love said.
At the same time, she said that she pushes the student directors to work and be motivated independently through minimal instruction and intervention.
“We have no frame of reference… it’s really just us winging it. Sometimes it’s [us] completely making [stuff] up and seeing if that works. And while that can be difficult… it is part of the fun,” Heredia said. “It’s [scary] because you don’t know if what you’re doing is wrong or right. You [could] fail terribly. But… it offers you more experience and more tools that you probably wouldn’t have used if you’re just taught one way.”
Tickets will be available soon at eastreservations.org for $7.
Photo courtesy of Akihisa Tsuboi
