A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By William Shakespeare
Directed by William Thomas Hodson
The warrior queen, Hippolyta, is compelled to marry her captor, Theseus. A comical group of mechanics decides to gift the couple with a play performed at the wedding. Rehearsals are interrupted by a group of lovers in a chase of one another, heightened by magic juice administered by a mischievous fairy, Puck…and hilarity ensues. Shotgun has a reputation for bold re-imaginings of classic works. William Hodgson’s take will unearth all of the passion, danger, and joy of Midsummer in astonishing ways. Buckle up for an adventure!
Run Time: 2 hours & 30 minutes including one brief intermission
Production Sponsors: Karen Elizabeth Austin, Richard & Kate West
Season Sponsors: Richard Nelson & Janice Berman, Don Kaufman, Craig & Kathy Moody, Russell Nelson, Les & Sue Polgar, Ragesh Tangri & Daralyn Durie, Bibi Tiphane
photos
Creative team
| Costume Assistant | Madeline Berger |
| Assistant Stage Manager | Romeo Channer |
| MAD Fellow (Costumes) | Abigail Cregor |
| Fight Choreographer | Raisa Donato |
| MAD Fellow (Costumes) | Isadora Duskin-Feinberg |
| Intimacy Choreographer | Natalie Greene |
| Props Designer | Leah Hammond |
| Director | William Thomas Hodgson |
| Lighting Designer | Stephanie Anne Johnson |
| Dramaturg & Voice/Text Coach | Philippa Kelly |
| Stage Manager | Liam Kirk |
| Composer & Music Director | Erika Oba |
| Scenic Designer | Sarah Phykitt |
| Costume Designer | Ashley Renee |
| Sound Designer & Music Producer | Sara Witsch |
CAST
| Rolanda D. Bell | Helena |
| Oscar Woodrow Harper III | Bottom |
| Celeste Kamiya | Hermia / Fairy |
| Jamin Jollo | Puck / Philostrate |
| Susannah Martin* | Egeus / Peter Quince / Peaseblossom |
| Fenner Merlick | Demetrius |
| Devin Cunningham | Lysander |
| Kevin Rebultan | Flute / Moth / Fairy |
| Radhika Rao | Titania / Hippolyta |
| Veronica Renner | Oberon / Theseus |
| Matt Standley | Snug / Snout |
*Shotgun Players Company Member
DIRECTOR WILLIAM THOMAS HODGSON
It’s not just the gorgeous assemblage of words on the page that made me fall in love with Shakespeare. It’s the countless artists, scholars, and activists who have left their prints on my understanding of this poetry. Certain adaptations, edits, and recontextualizations have lodged in my dramaturgical understanding of a play, forever illuminating a new aspect, making it more personal. Any one of us may understand Shakespeare better than the monarch under whose aegis his plays were written, because good theater becomes great when it resonates with you, a topic on which you are the authority. Shakespeare is transformative when it’s about you and me, and the humanity between us.
all of the action in this play is inspired by love
FROM DRAMATURG PHILIPPA KELLY
Dramaturg Philippa Kelly & Director William Thomas Hodgson
Love – some characters want it and can’t get it; others don’t want the love that is offered; Puck’s machinations both ignite and quell love; and the woodsmen, none of whom has a partner in workaday life, still get the chance to take a twirl in the dance of love. In this sense the comedy offers up an ideal realm, where apprehensions are stirred but hearts are at last filled with delight; and where fears of rejection are roused, only to fly away.
But not before the conclusion of a final act, appended almost like an extra limb to the body of Shakespeare’s plot. And it’s a hilarious limb! The woodsmen’s performance – unbeknownst to them – is a parody of the tragedy that Midsummer could have been if Egeus had been granted permission to put her daughter to death. This suggests how disturbingly close comedy is to its nemesis, tragedy.
The structure of this wonderful, multilayered play builds on a dichotomy between the strictly controlled environment of Athens’ city life and the wild, verdant world of nature in which magic casts its spells. Love is the wild force – call it magic, dreaming or illusion – that works its transformative powers on the heart.
"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind,
And therefore is wing’d Cupid painted blind,"
Helena reminds us. Love can make something hideous seem beautiful, and it can make hateful what once appeared beautiful. When the young lovers enter the woodland world, they allow themselves to dream; and in so doing they learn something about the potent darkness of desire that resides within human hearts, as well as the simple needs that all of us share. We might experience these emotions with all the force of our beings; and in the blink of an eye they are gone.
Matt Standley, Oscar Woodrow Harper III, Susannah Martin
ORIGINAL MUSIC BY MUSIC DIRECTOR & COMPOSER ERIKA OBA
“FAIRY LULLABY”
“FOREST MUSIC”
Actor spotlight
Susannah Martin is triple-cast in Midsummer, playing Egeus – a Royal in Athens, Peter Quince – a Mechanical in charge of the play within a play, and Peaseblossom – one of the fairies who tends to Bottom after his transformation.
Susannah on her experience playing three roles:
If Egeus is someone who exerts their will because of their love for their daughter, Peter Quince is someone who sublimates his will because of his love for his fellow mechanicals. I’m a director and a theater teacher in San Francisco in real life, so I know Peter Quince’s challenges when working with young actors like Bottom. It’s tempting to think you can play all the parts as Bottom begs to do. I also know the love that’s in a director’s work, one with the goal of helping an actor or person embrace and express their authentic self.
Reviews
“breaks all the rules while still remaining true to the text”
“funny and fast-paced”
“moment to moment merriment”
“full of Shotgun’s own brand of hilarity and heart, magic and music.”
“joy … imbued into every scene… a rollicking good time“
“Exuberant”
