Two half-naked silhouettes crouched in the brambles above the BEMA. In a momentously orchestrated flood of light, fifty beach balls surged down the hill, rolling to a halt just short of the bemused audience. Tom Dugdale '03 and Benjiman Weaver '03's mischevious and vibrantly acted rendition of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" -- complete with flitting fairies and unrequited amorous lovers in cheerleading and football-player garb -- was nothing short of a hit.
Egeus, played by Weaver, initiated the quickly spiralling intrigue: cantakerously hedging down the hill with his cane, he sought King Theseus' corroboration in forcing his winsome daughter Hermia to marry his choice of a suitable mate, Demetrius. Hermia, played by Cory Donovan '03 with dewey-eyed spunk, wanted only to marry her love, Lysander, Dave Morse '03. All the while, Helena -- Hanna Putnam '03 -- the girlhood friend of Hermia, trailed balefully and persistently after Demetrius -- Pat Bredehoft '03 --, much to his ostensible chagrin.
This Shakespearean conundrum, compounded by the antics of woodland nymphs like the exuberant and acrobatic Puck, also played by Weaver, became increasingly explosive as the masterfully composed fairy king Oberon, played by Dugdale, decided to pull one over on his poised, elegant Queen Titania -- Sarah Mollo-Christiansen '03.
Meanwhile, a bumbling group of townsmen practiced the play they hoped to perform at the wedding of Demetrius and Hermia.
These plots, against the backdrop of daylight waning into flashlight and candles, interwoven with magical synergy, the 16th century story's vitality remained undiminished.
The 13-character cast -- only three of whom had acted previously -- moved through the play on a crest of momentum, with little down-time or central meeting point for consultation during the production.
Both Dugdale and Weaver attended the Drama Foreign Study Program in London, where they learned their unique strategy, adopted from The British Royal Shakespeare Company, of memorizing the script entirely, digging into the text, and modeling the characters accordingly. This strategy kept their energy constant and gave them the breathing room for a modern twist.
The pop culture references spanned decades, with everything from interludes of Cole Porter to The Who, giving the mystical story grounding while the generational collapse allowed the audience once again to hover in its ethereality.
