Faeries and kings and queens oh my, Newbury Park High School’s [NPHS] theater department performed Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for their spring play on March 26-29. This comedy was a stark comparison to some of the previous years shows like “The Crucible” and “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child.” The show included both double casting and understudies, where many actors had the chance to work with each other as different characters.
Marilyn Strange, NPHS theater teacher and director, saw this group of actors as open to trying new things even when it was a lot of trial and error. “Their energy was kind of contagious, and it was really rewarding to watch the show grow over time,” Strange said. Strange found that since the Shakespearean way of speaking is not always the easiest to understand, she made sure the actors understood the script. “It was really important that the actors knew what they were saying so they could communicate that clearly to the audience,” Strange said.
Jeffrey Saner, senior, played the role of Lysander during the production for his last main stage production. The physical humor that takes place shifts the performance style of the students on stage. “Most of my productions that I’ve done were more dramatic. This one was full blown physical comedy,” Saner said. Saner chose to audition for this show because this would have been his first Shakespeare show and with that, he can bring his love for reading Shakespeare onto the stage. “[Shakespeare] is the foundation for theater […] and it’s why theater is the way it is today,” Saner said.
Playing the role of one of the two lovers, Demetrius, Calvin Sukay, senior, went into his final main stage show wanting to leave it all out on the stage. This was one of Sukay’s first comedy roles and it helped him grow as an overall actor. “I had to be way more expressive and not take things as seriously. It opened up what I feel like I can do,” Sukay said. Something that was different compared to other Shakespearian shows was how there were separate story lines all at once. “I like how all the different groups are happening at once but still connect in the end,” Sukay said.
Students had to juggle their responsibilities as actors, technicians and leaders to perform Shakespeare’s comedy. With an articulation of difficult language and large technical elements, the production shows the amount of effort it takes to put on a Shakespeare play. “I just hoped we could kind of shift people’s perspective on Shakespeare a little bit,” Strange said.
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