Marywood Players enacted Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on Oct. 6 through Oct. 8. I was able to see a rehearsal of the play, and even with a few quirks and mishaps, the play that I said was spectacular and was worth the watch.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a play that explores the idea of love, human desire and fantasy. Set in Athens and an enchanted forest, it follows the intertwining stories of four young lovers and a group of amateur actors. Magical mishaps, love potions and fairy mischief create romantic chaos in the forest, but everything is resolved in the end, and love prevails.
Marywood Players’ performance in this play was nothing less than magical. With lights and overgrown vines and flowers in the audience, the unique and whimsical movement of the fairies, stunning outfits and Shakespearean dialogue, the play brought the audience into this fantasy world.
The fairies stood out the most, with their beautiful, colorful costumes and fairy-like movements. One of the fairies was even doing acrobatics while delivering her lines. I wondered how many times they must have rehearsed that to perfect their movement and make it flow seamlessly.
In an interview prior to the performance, Gabe Jenceleski, a junior music performance major who played Nick Bottom, said that the actors were very dedicated in rehearsals.
“We figure out what our positions on the stage are going to be like, and we figure out what our physical actions will be like, and then we have to repeat them every time we rehearse,” said Jenceleski.
I laughed so loud during Jenceleski’s monologue, and so did everyone else. He spoke like he owned the stage and made me connect with him. In fact, each of the cast members dominated that stage.
Every actor had confidence and charisma. The play was lively, energetic, fun and bizarre. The actors were even having fun. Their smiles seemed genuine and their tone was always happy when not being serious.
Each costume was so impressive and in character. The fairies looked ethereal, the royal characters appeared proper and the performers seemed sophisticated. The costumes definitely added to the atmosphere of the play.
The only drawback in this otherwise wonderful performance was the microphone quality, which made trying to decipher what the actors were saying difficult, especially with the not-so-common Shakespearean language. Despite this, the audience was able to understand what was going on through the context of actors’ movements, gestures and lighting. The play’s direction was always certain.
“Theater is alive, active, and in the present,” Dr. Timothy Pyles, M.F.A, director of Marywood’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” said before the show. ”The last thing I want to do is have people attend a production as an appreciation of a historical piece.”
This play was heavily centered around the actors and their performance, on which they delivered. The charismatic atmosphere and scenic props truly put the audience into the lives of the characters. I’m glad I didn’t miss this fall showcase event.
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