A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The Story:

In Shakespeare’s England in the 16th century, many people believed in fairies and their magical powers. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the two worlds of fairies and mortals come together, making wonderful comedy. Puck, the mischief-making imp in service to the Fairy King Oberon, enters first.

Soon there is trouble in the fairy world. Oberon wants Fairy Queen Titania to give him the motherless Little Prince that she has brought from a land afar to raise. Titania refuses to give up the boy, but Puck sneaks through and carries him off. The fairies sweep in and grab him back, leaving Oberon and Titania angry with each other.

In the mortal world, things seem happier. Theseus, Duke of Athens, joyously announces that he will soon wed Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, the famed female warriors. Rustic village characters tumble over each other in their costumes as they prepare a play to entertain the Duke after his wedding. Bottom, the weaver, is so carried away by their excitement that he is left behind when the other rustics leave.

But there is also trouble in the mortal world. Hermia and Lysander have eyes only for each other, but Helena and Demetrius don’t share the love for each other that they once did. In fact, Demetrius is so attracted to Hermia that he follows her, leaving Helena alone, heartbroken.

Oberon, determined to have the Little Prince for himself as his attendant, has Puck fetch a magic flower for casting a spell over Titania. When she awakes, she will fall in love with the first being she sees. As the Fairies are preparing Titania for sleep, Oberon enters—while Puck steals around, searching for the Little Prince—but Titania, orders Oberon away. Once Titania falls asleep, Oberon returns with the magic flower and shakes its nectar onto her eyelids.

Hermia and Lysander try to comfort Helena by insisting that all will be well. When the lovers leave, Bottom enters, with Puck right behind him. Puck controls Bottom’s movements, then sends him into a spin. Bottom disappears behind a tree only to reappear wearing a donkey head!

Hermia and Lysander find themselves lost in the woods at night and prepare to sleep until morning light will help them find their way. Demetrius enters the woods, looking for Hermia but, finding Helena instead, rejects her pleadings. When he runs off, Helena follows. He returns alone and, exhausted, falls asleep. Oberon has seen Helen rejected and feels sorry for her. He orders Puck to shake the magic pollen on the man who so heartlessly rejected her. Puck looks at both sleeping men and doesn’t really know which is which. He mistakenly puts the spell on Lysander.

Helena comes upon the sleeping Lysander and wakes him up so that he can help her find Demetrius. Under the magic spell, Lysander, instead of helping her, falls madly in love with her. Oberon enters and angrily tells Puck that he has annointed the wrong man.

After the sleeping Demetrius receives the potion and wakes up, the two men vow their love of Helena and fight over her. Hermia, furious over Lysander’s change of affection, attacks Helena as the cause of it. Puck ducks into the middle of the fighting. He delights in the spectacle of “what fools these mortals be.” Then he puts all four lovers to sleep.

Puck leads Bottom to the sleeping Titania. She wakes up, and under the magic spell, immediately falls in love with Bottom in his donkey head. She even puts a ring of flowers over his ears. Bottom tries to dance gracefully with the beautiful fairy. When she gives him some green leaves, he starts to eat them. Titania wants him to go off with her.

Which will he decide on? Eating leaves or going off with her?

Back with the mortal lovers, Puck wakes all four. Hermia and Lysander quickly become a happy couple again, and so do Helena and Demetrius. Titania, still under her spell, enters with Bottom. When Oberon wakes her from her spell, she is horrified to find herself being chased by a man with a donkey head. She runs away from Bottom and is happily carried off by Oberon.

Theseus calls the reunited lovers, who joyously go off hand-in-hand to be married.

tcdt A Midsummer Night’s Dream The Ballet Music – Felix Mendelssohn Libretto – William Shakespeare Artistic Director & Choreographer – Robert Gardner Rehearsal Director – Beth Bartholomew Costume Design – Tulle and Dye, Sandra Ehle, Paige Waldron Lighting Design – Garett Pembrook Scenic Design – Mark Houser, Eastman Opera Theatre Production Manager – Jessamyn Slon

Production Credits ASMs/Stagehands – Sarah Mossgraber, Alexis Miller Light Board/Stagehand – Kate Duprey Sound Board/Stagehand – Collin Waldron Wardrobe Assistant – Felicity Thomas RCB Marketing Intern – Kiara Kolaczyk

This production originally premiered in 2014 with the Minnesota Ballet.

These performances are made possible by the generous support of The State of New York, the County of Monroe, the Rochester Area Community Foundation, Dawn and Jacques Lipson, the Glover-Crask Charitable Trust, the Daniel and Nancy Robbins Family Fund, Nancy Sands, New York Council on the Arts, The Shubert Foundation, and our wonderful patrons. Additional Production acknowledgments: Minnesota Ballet Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education Fort Hill Performing Arts Center Spice of Life Productions Rochester Community Players Tom and Deena Rodriguez Robert and Maura Slon Debbie Tretter Elissa and Josh Burke IATSE Local 25 tcdt The Cast Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons Megan Kamler, Fri/Sat 6pm; Shannon Rodriguez, Sat/Sun 2pm Theseus, Duke of Athens Drew Neary, Fri/Sat 6pm; J. Wyatt Pendelton, Sat/Sun 2pm Oberon, King of the Fairies Ryo Munakata Titiania, Queen of the Fairies Jessica Tretter Puck, a mischievous attendant to Oberon Christopher Collins Hermia, beloved of Lysander Katherine Duffy Lysander, beloved of Hermia John Deming Helena, in love with Demetrius Catilin Schwartz, Fri/Sat 6pm; Megan Kamler, Sat/Sun 2pm Demetrius, enamoured of Hermia J. Wyatt Pendelton, Fri/Sat 6pm; Drew Neary, Sat/Sun 2pm Peaseblossom, Attendant to Titiana Shannon Rodriguez, Fri/Sat 6pm; Catilin Schwartz , Sat/Sun 2pm Cobweb, Attendant to Titiana Lydia Marbach Bottom, a Rustic Adam Kittelburger Changeling Prince, a ward of Titania Luke DeSanctis (Draper Center for Dance Education Student)

Fairies Hannah Boyer, Kylee Curcio, Savannah Ross, Anna Stewart (Company apprentices)

Draper Center for Dance Education Professional Training Program students: Fairies Marissa Chen (Fri/Sat 6pm, Sun 2pm), Alexa DeSanctis (Sat 2pm), Abigail Jacobs (Fri/Sat 6pm, Sun 2pm), Victoria Rynkowski (Sat 2pm), Ella Lippa, Alina Railey (Fri/Sat 6pm, Sun 2pm), Bella Railey (Sat 2pm), Sarah Schiffhauer, Clara Thiele, Morgan Throumoulos, Jocelyn Wynn Sprites Madison Bevilacqua, Alexa DeSanctis (Fri/Sat 6pm), Lily Benz (Sat/Sun 2pm ), Janina Olivieri (Fri/Sat 6pm), Sophie Brown (Sat/Sun 2pm), Bella Railey (Fri/Sat 6pm), Melissa Harvey (Sat/Sun 2pm), Victoria Rynkowski (Fri/Sat 6pm), Kataya Kobyakov (Sat/Sun 2pm), Gianna Smolock (Fri/Sat 6pm), Celena McElligott (Sat/Sun 2pm)

Pixies Siena Ardizzone, Sophia Barnard-DeCann, Angelina Cruz, Gwendolyn Nellis, Ava Palermo, Camryn St. John, Elizabeth Sophia Tucker, Lena Vaisey, Alexandra Wlostowski Bugs Sam Gauss, Ronan Morelli, Nathan Talledo

Front cover photo credit - Thomas Rodriguez