A dreamy and shocking experience: A midsummer night’s dream at NGU
Caroline McNeely, Staff Writer & Photographer
Doth ye knoweth Shakespeare? Me either, but thankfully this play is for everyone. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” comes to the North Greenville’s Billingsley Theatre next week to showcase the talent of many different students.
Without knowing what the play is about, one can easily excuse themselves from seeing it. Let’s review what “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is all about and get ready to experience this amazing form of art.
When asked what the show is all about, Amy Dunlap, director of the play and associate dean of the school of the arts, said, “The overarching theme of the play is how love is so important and it causes us to make decisions in our lives and we need to be really careful understanding how our love is not the same as God’s love. His love is perfect and infallible, and our love is a big hot mess.”
The story showcases three groups of people that appear throughout the show and cause love triangles, conflict and comedic relief. The Athenians are in a whirlwind of love triangles as the mechanicals work together in a hilarious manner to put on a play for the Athenians, and the fairies question the authenticity of love, meddle in the love triangles and bless the marriages of the Athenian lovers.
The play will keep you on your toes with its humor. The mechanicals bring a large part of comedic relief for the play, along with the other characters, with their witty banter and energetic, clumsy moments.
Dunlap describes the play to be hilarious, energetic and magical. With hours and months of planning since November, this play has been in the works with passion and endurance to see the finished product.
For NGU students, Lydia Kytle and Kale Morse, a part of the production, it will be their last School of Theatre performance while also being their senior project. If anything, come see the play in support of the hard work these seniors have put into their passions.
Lydia Kytle, theater major playing the role of Helena, describes the play to be magical, mischievous and lovely. Kale Morse, theater major playing the role of Puck, describes the show as wacky, mystical and fun.
With “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” you will be captivated by the storytelling, acting, stage design, makeup and costume design, lighting and directing. Kytle said, “Something to look forward to is seeing a lot of friends and familiar faces, especially if they’re an NGU student, on stage playing some really fun characters. I truly believe that this is a really good production, so you’ve got really awesome lighting, really great stage work and really great work by the actors on the stage. So they can honestly just expect to see a good show.”
With the School of Theatre always looking for more cast to be apart of their shows, Dunlap said, “We have a lot students in this show who aren’t theater majors, so I want people in this community to know that we are open to anybody coming to participate in our shows either on stage or back stage.”
With a clear passion for the work she does and the students she does it for, Dunlap has taken note of the hard work that students have put in to create the mystical and fun “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” production.
Make your way to the box office for your ticket because “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will be showing April 13-15, and again on April 20-22. Gather your friends to go see this dreamy, yet shocking play. May thee enjoyeth thy showeth.
