An enchanted forest in 16th century Greece will come alive in Eden Prairie High School’s (EPHS) spring play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
The play is one of William Shakespeare’s most popular and most performed for good reason, according to Laurie Nebeker, an EPHS English and theater teacher who is directing it.
“I love the play for its comedy, its magical characters, and its romance,” she said. “If this is someone’s first experience with Shakespeare, I hope they will be surprised and delighted by how outrageously funny this script is, even though it’s over 400 years old.”
Shows will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 2, Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4, in the EPHS Auditorium. General admission tickets are $5 for students and seniors 55 and older, and $7 for adults. Tickets can be purchased via Go Fan.
Bringing Shakespeare’s play to life
Nebeker said her students’ enthusiasm about producing a Shakespeare play has made this production extra-rewarding. “Some of the cast felt unsure about their ability to handle the poetic language, but they’ve jumped in with enthusiasm and put in the extra work,” she said.
Performing Shakespeare involves a different approach than performing a more contemporary work, Nebeker said: “Shakespeare does require you to spend more time with the text – everything from vocabulary and allusions to scansion.”
“‘Midsummer’ is one of Shakespeare’s most rhythmic and rhyming plays,” she added. “This gives the play great energy and many memorable lines, but avoiding a repetitive vocal pattern in the delivery can be challenging.”
Senior Laura Schiveley, who is playing Titania, agreed with Nebeker that Shakespeare requires a different approach.
Since modern audiences are not as familiar with the cadence and language of Shakespearean dialogue, Schiveley said, “You have to be perhaps excessively aware of everything you’re doing and saying because you really have to infuse the text with emotion and intent. You have to be more expressive, take some liberties, and really shape the text in a way that it’s understandable.”
Despite the different style of dialogue, Shakespeare’s comic romance is accessible, witty, and entertaining, Schiveley said. “I think there’s this assumption that Shakespeare is very stuffy and serious. At times I think that could be the case with different shows and different moods, but this show is at its core unserious and hilarious.”
This will be the final EPHS performance for Schiveley, who plans to major in drama this fall at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, with an interdisciplinary focus on performing, directing, producing, and playwriting.
She credits EPHS Drama for helping her develop and refine her theater talents. “I’m really grateful for all of the opportunities this program has provided me and other students,” she said, including helping them gain confidence and explore their capabilities.
Schiveley added, “Portraying another character is a really cool experience and gives a lot of empathy and understanding. It has really helped me grow as a person to embody these other characters and having to constantly think about what they’re feeling and what they’re thinking. It’s a great skill.”
Magical, whimsical costumes and set
Some of the most special aspects of this production are the creatively crafted set design, costuming, and lighting, which bring the story to life, Nebeker said.
“The play brilliantly weaves three story lines together in two settings,” she said. “We start and end in Athens, but the transformations in the story take place in the woods enchanted by fairies.”
The costuming is designed to give visual cues about who the characters are, but also to set the mood. In particular, fairy costumes designed by senior Ashar McCann set a whimsical and magical tone.
The characters running around in the woods on this midsummer night are lost, in conflict, and bewitched by magic, so the set needs to foster this, Nebeker explained. “One of my mantras for the show has been ‘Comedy loves obstacles,'” she said. “Thus, the set has multiple levels and irregular shapes so the characters can run, fight, flirt, or hide.”
Nebeker said “every plant and flower in our prop room” was used in the set designed by senior Lily Isaacson to emphasize the magical qualities of the forest and bring the woods to life.
Isaacson said, “I loved working on ‘Midsummer’ because it was the first show where I completely came up with how it looked down to every last measurement and angle of each platform. I knew the set would be very different from any of the other shows that I have worked on.”
She said she employed “odd shapes and many different heights to help create an organic feeling to help create the magical woods.” She also noted that it was important to consider practicality, safety, and ability to build and complete the set in time for performances.
Creating a space where the cast feels excited to perform was important to Isaacson, who hopes the audience will “enjoy watching the show as much as I have enjoyed creating it.”
“Midsummer” is Isaacson’s final EPHS show. She has worked on 10 productions, including EPHS shows and “Revolutionists” at St. Paul’s Park Square Theater. Next year, she plans to major in theater production and design at Pace University’s Sands College of Performing Arts.
Isaacson encouraged students who might be thinking about getting involved in theater production and design to try it out.
“It can be difficult at times but if you find the right people that want to support you, it will make all the difference,” she said. “I have the most amazing family, friends, and teachers who encourage me and want to see me succeed. I couldn’t do what I have done without their support and guidance.”
Cast and crew
“Midsummer” has a large cast and crew, but even so, many students took on multiple responsibilities.
“In addition to our student set designer and a student doing part of the costume design, we’ve had cast and crew members do the choreography for four dances that are embedded in the play,” Nebeker said.
The full cast, production staff, running tech, build crew, and choreographers are:
Cast
Theseus: David Marin
Hippolyta: Sophia Yoerks
Philostrate: Selah Harman
Egeus: Owen Caruth
Hermia: Leah Anderson
Lysander: Gavin Caruth
Demetrius: Noah Lins
Helena: Emilia Borrmann
Bottom/Pyramus: Adam Szendre
Quince: Susannah Smith
Flute/Thisbe: Amogh Singh
Snug/Lion: Ezra VanLangendon
Snout/Wall: Ray Colford
Starveling/Moonshine: Owen Caruth
Puck: Eliza Tippets
Oberon: Vaibhav Keshavan
Titania: Laura Schiveley
Cobweb: Dipper Tomlinson
Mustardseed: Danika Gadient
Moth: Cici Hassan
Peaseblossom: Joelle Conlee
Other fairies: Nadini Kartha, Shikha Mahendrakar
Production staff
Director: Laurie Nebeker
Technical director: Jay Asfeld
Assistant technical director: Tracy Joe
Set design: Lily Isaacson
Lighting design: Payton Curry
Costumer: Katie Ross
Student costume designer: Ashar McCann
Student production staff
Assistant technical directors: Ben Koshiol, Lily Isaacson
Set design: Lily Isaacson
Stage manager: Lily Lawinger
Assistant stage manager: Solana Alcantar
Lighting: Payton Curry
Props: Amelie Pfisher, Laiah Matzke
Sound: Juan Diego Caicedo
Set decoration and painting design: Olivia Lubin
Student costume designer: Ashar McCann
Lead crafts: Laura Berge
Lead stitcher: Genesis Lema
Poster and logo design: Sophia Yoerks
Running Tech
Shift: Ben Koshiol, Lily Isaacson, Audra Houdek
Sound: Juan Diego Caicedo, Kate Lawinger
Lighting: Payton Curry, Paige Trosen
Props: Amelie Pfister, Laiah Matzke
Student Choreographers
Bergomask: Lily Lawinger
“Bless This House”: Laiah Matzke
“Ye Spotted Snakes”: Shikha Mahendrakar, Nandini Kartha, Dipper Tomlinson
“Rock the Ground”: Ray Colford
Build Crew
Amelie Pfister
Audra Houdek
Ben Koshiol
Elizabeth Stephan
Julian Pudenz
Juan Diego Caicedo
Kara Hoffmann
Kate Lawinger
Laiah Matzke
Lily Lawinger
Olivia Lubin
Paige Trosen
Payton Curry
Taylor Price
Riley Bialczyk
Ray Colford
Amogh Singh
Emily Christopherson
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