'A Midsummer Night's Dream' at the Hett, March 3-6
(LEBANON, Ill., March 3, 2016) - The McKendree University Theatre Department presents
host the classic comedy, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” in honor of the 400th anniversary
of William Shakespeare’s passing. The free performance will take place at the Hettenhausen
Center for the Arts on campus. Performances will run March 3-5; doors open at 7 p.m.
and on March 6; doors open at 2 p.m.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is about love, joy, confusion, longing, lust, disappointment
and marriage. It focuses on three interwoven stories:
-
Hermia is in love with Lysander, but her father wants her to marry Demetrius. To escape the arranged marriage, she and Lysander elope into the woods. Demetrius follows them, and he is pursued by Helena, who nurses an unrequited passion for him. In the woods, everything changes as the fairies take a hand in the course of true love.
-
A group of amateur actors meet in the woods to rehearse their play. Their first challenge is their lack of talent, but that soon changes when Puck, a fairy trickster, makes an alteration to the cast.
-
An argument over a human child has estranged the King and the Queen of the Fairies. Meeting in the woods, they argue and Oberon, the king, plots against his wife. He casts a spell on her to make her regret defying his will.
When all three stories come together in the woods on a single night in May, confusion
and chaos reign. There is magic in the air, and no one will escape the woods untouched
by it. Will anyone get their “happily ever after”? You’ll have to see it to find out!
“This is one of Shakespeare’s most produced works, and the Theatre Department is proud
to present it,” said Michelle Magnussen, director. “Shakespeare died 400 years ago
this year, yet the message of the play still works for a modern audience. Dating and
relationships may have changed but Puck’s words are still true today: ‘Lord, what
fools these mortals be!’”
-McK-
