A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Hilarious and Thought-Provoking
November 9, 2009 • written by Rebecca Holland
Everyone has heard of William Shakespeare’s famous comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The well known story about young lovers falling in love with the wrong people, Quince’s humorous attempts to direct a tragedy, and the fairy king Oberon’s comical trick played on the fairy queen Titania, is one that many have witnessed. With magic from fairies, the characters go on a hilarious and crazy adventure that ends with order being restored and everything falling into place for the characters.
Park High School’s production of the play, directed by Tracy Caponigri, was a wonderful representation of Shakespeare’s classic comedy. The lead roles were played by senior Jasmine Branum as Hermia, junior Logan Greene as Lysander, junior Alex Dean as Demetrius, and senior Erica Ashelson as Helena. All the actors did a marvelous job of bringing their characters to life. Logan’s intensity and passionate acting made him a believable lover. Erica portrayed Helena’s unrequited love for Demetrius convincingly and in a comical way. Other actors that stood out for their exceptional performances were junior Brittany Affolter as Snug playing a cute, but rather absurd lion, and junior Sylvia Lowry as Puck, Oberon’s mischievous and clever servant. The last scene of the play, when Quince and his actors perform their “tragedy”, had the audience laughing hysterically in their seats with particularly amusing and entertaining performances from senior Sandra Yang as Bottom playing Pyramus and freshman Lucas Lindstrom as Flute playing Thisbe. Laughter erupted from the audience when Lucas appeared wearing a dress and squeaking out his lines.
The actors left the audience with a better understanding of the play. It was clear which scenes Shakespeare intended to be humorous. Also, when the play ended, the audience was able to see the questions the play proposes about life. Through Oberon’s interference in Bottom’s and the young lover’s lives, the audience is left to wonder whether there is such thing as fate or destiny and ponder the idea of life itself being a play. Overall, the show was fantastic and the whole cast did an outstanding job.
The entire cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream
Filed Under Arts and Academics, Extracurriculars, Theater Arts
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