William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is set in the untamed, magical woods of Athens, Greece. The play exhibits love triangles, mistaken identities, humorous banter and mischievous characters. Fairies, royals and soon-to-be newlyweds make up the cast. The theater department’s own unique production took place on April 25, 26 and 27.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, and while that might make it seem boring or hard to understand, the way that we perform it is a little bit different than you might expect. Several of the major characters are under the effects of magic spells, which cause them to fall in love with people they shouldn’t, make fools of themselves, and one character is even turned into a donkey. I think it’s really funny,” Josh Stanford, senior, said.
Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius get caught up in a complicated situation over intended spouses, spells, and true love. Identities are mistaken and trust is broken. The adventures of these four Athenian lovers combat the conflict in the woods with the help of fairies all while the mechanicals, a group of miscellaneous craftsmen, practice a comedic play to present to the Duke.
Nadia Haswell, sophomore, played Hermia, one of the four lovers, and she described her as a “very passionate, headstrong, and confident” character with “a short fuse that might burst at any moment.”
Lysander, also one of the lovers, was played by senior Aidan Bigonia. Bigonia described him as “very emotive. Most of the time he is very kind and loving, but there are times where his emotions overtake him.”
Emmeline Buesing, senior, played Helena, the third lover, described as a “headstrong girl who goes for what she wants.”
The last of the four Athenian lovers is Demetrius played by Stanford. Demetrius is the “stereotypical rich prep school boy who’s stuck up and full of himself all the time. While he’s not a pleasant person to interact with, it’s really fun to lean into a dramatic over the top caricature of this mean kind of person that a lot of people know or have interacted with,” Stanford said.
An exciting, but scary part of the play is the aerial skills the actors practiced in order to perform flawlessly in front of a live audience.
“In the second act, Helena (Emme) sits on the top of the lyra while she holds my ankles in between her legs and I hang upside down. It takes a lot of trust to know that Emme will not let me fall, and that my scene partners will be there if something goes wrong,” Haswell said.
Flips, tricks, and stunts take expertise. The actors have to exhibit athleticism in order to “utilize [the skills] in ways that we were first unfamiliar with,” Bigonia said.
These skills are what set this performance apart from others showcased by Homestead’s theater department.
“We have to spend a lot more time warming up and working out during normal rehearsals, and it’s a lot more exerting than a typical show,” Stanford said.
The actors worked diligently to make the skills look effortless.
“We have worked so hard to perfect it and get it right; we hope everyone leaves amazed by what we’ve done,” Tatum Lukach, freshman, said.
Costumes contribute significantly to the plot of the play. The costumes were picked and perfected to fit the characters’ personalities while also keeping in mind colors and patterns.
“The leads’ costumes in this show were based a lot on color. Throughout the show their costumes switched from warm to cool and back depending on who they are in love with,” Megan Anderson, sophomore, said.
Anderson described the leads’ costumes based on their personality traits:
“Hermia’s personality reflects a lot of the qualities associated with pink and warm colors so throughout the show you saw her in shades of pink and red. Helena is a more preppy or structured character. She is always wearing cool colors mostly blue because of this. Lysander is an artist so we made his costume have more of an artsy vibe and less formal. Demetrius is very preppy and formal so we made his costume reflect his wealth and formal nature.”
