A Midsummer Night’s Dream is by Shakespeare, but by no means is it boring. If you like telenovelas, dramas, rom coms, or the love square thing Miraculous Ladybug has going on, you will like this show. However, the Shakespearean language makes this show harder to understand; you kind of need to know what to look out for beforehand. This summary includes spoilers, so proceed with caution.
Helena and Hermia are best friends. Demetrius loves Hermia. Lysander loves Hermia. Helena loves Demetrius. Hermia is supposed to marry Demetrius, but she loves Lysander. They decide to elope, and Hermia, naturally, tells her best friend. Helena, being in love with Hermia’s betrothed, spills the secret to Demetrius to get him to like her.
In the forest, Oberon and Titania are the king and queen of the fairies, and they’re trashy. The on-again off-again royals let their fights spill out and impact the rest of the people in the forest: not so lucky for our four young lovers. Oberon’s right hand man, – though I would say court jester – Puck, enchants Titania per Oberon’s orders to fall in love with the first person she sees – unfortunately a donkey-headed man named “Bottom.” Get pranked! This magical charm is the nectar of a purple flower, of which there are many. Hermia sees the charm in action, and begs Puck to use it on Demetrius so she’ll be free to marry Lysander. However, Puck is a silly little goose, and messes it up. They accidentally give the nectar to LYSANDER, not Demetrius.
Seeing as we’re halfway through our show, let’s check back in. Helena and Hermia are best friends, but the girls are fighting. Demetrius loves Hermia. Hermia loves Lysander. Lysander loves Helena. Helena loves Demetrius. Oh no. You see what I mean about it being a telenovela?
Eventually, Oberon gets bored and decides he wants his wife back. He lifts all the enchantments. The four lovers decide it was all just a dream, giving us the name of the play, and Lysander goes back to Hermia while Demetrius pairs up with Helena. Then everyone gets married and they all live happily ever after.
Once you know what you’re watching, the show becomes an extreme comedy. The boys play tug of war with Helena’s arms, and she is having none of it. Hermia falls head over heels. Literally: she falls on her ass and rolls backwards. Also, Puck. Literally everything about Puck is the best part of this show. The way they walk instantly shouts “little goblin fairy creature.” Crawling, tip-toeing, sort of reverse moonwalking, and it’s all for no reason. They’re just like that.
You can come enjoy this performance on November 22 at 7 pm, November 23 at 3 pm or 7 pm, or November 24 at 3 pm. It will be at the University of Saint Joseph in the Hoffman Auditorium. The show is approximately two hours with a 10 minute intermission. Tickets are for sale on the GHAA Full Day website through TicketLeap for $10 per person. Our leads for this show are Nola Shaller as Helena, Li’LaBeth Robles as Hermia, Carter Stevens as Demetrius, Charlie Hendry as Lysander, Jayden Anthony as Oberon, V Perez as Titania, and Sap Mansfield as Puck. Our students, and especially our lovely director Ms. Rebekah Curtis and assistant director Mr. Thomas Beebe, have been working hard to bring this show to you, so come and see it! See your friends, your kids, your kids’ friends, your friends’ kids, whoever!