After a too-long gap (since The Comedy of Errors in 2011), Shakespeare returns to the Big Schoolroom for this year’s Senior Play production, with a cast of 22 pupils. A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be performed on Thursday 13th, Friday 14th and Saturday 15th November, starting at 7.00pm each day. All parents and their guests are welcome to attend. If you have a choice, seating on Thursday or Friday is likely to be easier than on Saturday.
Mr Clarke and Mr Girdham have directed, assisted by many staff, and outside choreographer Ben Sullivan. Below, a summary of the plot. It’s a classic story of love, misunderstandings, fairy potions and, in this production, disco music.
The story:
We start in the court of Athens, ruled by Duke Theseus (Darren Ulogwara) alongside Queen Hippolyta (Philomena Schneider). Soon they will be married.
Hermia (Alice McCarthy) desperately wants to marry Lysander (Daniel Passmore), but her harsh father Egeus (Johann Diemert) forbids her to, since he wants her to marry Demetrius (Ferdia Murray) instead, and asks Duke Theseus to stop the marriage. Theseus agrees, and tells Hermia that if she will not marry Demetrius she must either become a nun or die. So the two young lovers decide to escape to the wood, away from the laws of the court.
To complicate matters further, Hermia’s old friend Helena (Anna-Cecilia Corti) loves Demetrius. She tells him about Hermia’s plan; he decides to follow Hermia into the wood; Helena decides to follow him. Now all 4 young lovers are ‘wooing’ in the wood.
Meanwhile, a group of workers (the ‘mechanicals’) led by Peter Quince (Grace Koch) assisted by the super-keen Bottom (Jason Otolorin) propose to put on a play to celebrate the upcoming wedding. They are not very good. They choose an entirely inappropriate tragedy about the young lovers Pyramus and Thisbe. Surely the Duke will not choose this as entertainment for his big day? Optimistically, they head into the wood to start preparations and rehearsals.
And meanwhile (again) there is another group in the wood: it is a place of fairies, led by King Oberon (Jack-Francis McKeon). He is angry with Queen Titania (Rebecca Flanagan) because she stole a boy from him to be her attendant. So he tells his fairy servant Puck (Daniel Moran) to play a trick on her – to get some magic juice which Oberon can put on her eyes while asleep so that she will fall in love with the first figure she sees when she wakes up.
With all those characters in the wood at the same time, what could possibly go wrong?
Of course, this is a comedy. So everything turns out well in the end. And of course, it ends in a dance.
Shakespeare Society productions at the College were initiated by former English teacher Mr John Fanagan in 1996. We are delighted to return to the tradition almost 30 years later, after a 14-year break.
Previous productions:
2011 The Comedy of Errors (directors Mr Julian Girdham & Mr Ronan Swift)
2006 Twelfth Night (Mr John Fanagan & Mr Julian Girdham)
2004 As You Like It (Mr John Fanagan & Mr Julian Girdham)
2002 A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mr John Fanagan)
2000 The Comedy of Errors (Mr John Fanagan & Warden Tim Macey)
1998 The Merchant of Venice (Mr John Fanagan & Warden Tim Macey)
1996 Twelfth Night
Music:
Felix Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Mama Cass: Dream a Little Dream of Me.
Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).
The Bee Gees: Night Fever.
Earth, Wind and Fire: Boogie Wonderland.
