By Gianna Barberia, news staff
The course of true love never did run smooth, but the Northeastern Department of Theatre’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” has been running relatively seamlessly. Having rehearsed for almost three months, the department will begin its run of the show Thursday and run until April 2.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a Shakespearean comedy, weaving together “four enchanted tales of midsummer madness,” according to the department’s website.
“There’s four different worlds: The world of fairies, the fairy court, the Athenian court and the world of mechanicals,” said director Dave Demke.
Demke said one of the most challenging aspects of putting on this show is bringing together these four worlds cohesively.
“I decided to approach this play so that the entire play is a dream that the audience is having,” Demke said. “When we’re dreaming, our imaginations can go wherever we want. We’re spanning different eras of time rather than try to makes these four worlds look the same.”
The cast rehearsed for about 24-30 hours a week. Hanne Larsen, a senior theatre major who plays the role of Helena, said the cast even showed up to rehearse on snow days.
“It’s a commitment,” Larsen said. “It’s worth two classes essentially.”
The rehearsals were unique in that the actors did not use their scripts, which Larsen said was “freeing.”
“Usually, the first couple of weeks of rehearsal, actors have a relationship with their script,” Demke said. “I taught them how to feed the text into their fellow actors so they can work on building relationships from the beginning.”
Demke focused not only on building these relationships, but also on making the show different from other versions. He said that<< because Shakespeare “gives you a lot of leeway into the world you want to create,” he could be creative.
“This is the seventh ‘Midsummer’ that I’ve been involved with, and this is my second time directing it,” Demke said. “One of the most exciting things was to think about what [people] haven’t seen yet and what might be interesting to do.”
Demke added to the show a character arc for the changeling child, a normally insignificant character, as well as interesting lighting and technical aspects.
“We have this really cool shadow battle with original, booming music,” said Kim Mecca, a third-year communication studies major and stage manager.
Original music composed by Dewey Dellay, a former New England Institute of Art professor, can be heard throughout the entire show. The set is very minimal so that the music, lighting and costumes stand out, Mecca said. She cited the show’s costumes specifically as another interesting aspect.
“The lovers lose clothes as the show goes on, and their underwear matches the lover they’re supposed to be with,” Mecca said. “The costumes are awesome.”
Though Mecca is a member of Northeastern Shakespeare Society’s executive board, she said that you do not need to be a Shakespeare expert to understand the premise.
“People know Shakespeare,” Mecca said, “The story is pretty easy to grasp. People shouldn’t be intimidated because it’s Shakespeare. It’s very fun, colorful, and lively.”
Tickets for the show are $8 for Northeastern students and $12 general admission. They can be purchased on the myNEU portal.
“Seeing ‘Midsummer’ will give you a little escape from the cares of the world,” Demke said. “It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s exhilarating, it’s Shakespeare.”
