A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

Producers: Iain Moggach, Marissa Caldwell

Stage Manager: Lesley Coo

Production Designer: Brenda Thompson

Theseus/Oberon: Marissa Caldwell

Hippolyta/Titania/Peter Quince: Catherine Hughes

Hermia: Heather Dennis

Lysander/Cobweb/Snout: Caitlin Robson

Demetrius/Peasblossom/Starveling: Richard Varty

Helena: Olivia Everett

Bottom: Frank Kewin

Flute/Fairy/Mustardseed: Adam Brooks

Snout/Egeus/Cobweb: Rob Knapp

Puck: Kristen Keller

The Changeling Boy/Starveling’s Dog: Harley Elisa Caldwell

What a dream it has been to return to this wonderful play, in this gorgeous space, and with this brilliant team of old friends and new.

When we decided to bring back A Midsummer Night’s Dream after our groundbreaking 2018 production, I thought this would be a pretty straightforward beat-for-beat remount. But instead, we discovered whole new layers to the show, and so much more comedy, than we could have imagined. Partially, that is because I am older and more experienced, but genuinely, I believe it is because of the fresh impulses of the artists involved. Everyone bought in 100% to the vision of making this the silliest, funniest production of Midsummer I can remember, while maintaining the ‘scrappy’ mentality that makes Burro’d Theatre such a unique company in the local arts ecosystem. I hope you get as much joy out of it as we put into it.

And when I say this was a group project - holy moly do I mean it. I am so deeply indebted to everyone from Camphill, to the cast and crew, to the set build team, and, of course, to Marissa. This show is a testament to the power of community and how, when we support each other, magical things can happen.

Thank you thank you thank you. And thank you, the audience, for being here.

After the success of The Seagull, I was excited to bring back A Midsummer Night’s Dream from 2018 as our next big Camphill-partnered production.

And after doing five dramas/tragedies in a row, I was quite keen to get ‘silly’ with it.

While we decided to keep with the same adaptation of the script, the approach is very different. This time, I am doing the show from Puck’s perspective. This allows the humans to be more exaggerated, for instance. The results so far have been that this Midsummer is on its way to being the silliest and funniest production I have ever done - while also staying true to the script.

We are in rehearsals now, and tickets are on sale, so we hope to see you there!