By Jennifer Solis
WEST NEWBURY — The magical power of love and the folly of its excesses collide this weekend, when Pentucket Regional High School presents William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
The play runs tonight, tomorrow and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. Tickets are $6.
One of the Bard's most popular plays, it tells the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a troupe of amateur actors as they romp through a forest filled with shadowy trees and impish faeries one moonlit summer night.
A free performance for the district's middle school and senior citizens is planned for today.
"I remember reading this play in seventh grade, so seeing it performed on stage by older kids is great," said freshman Kyla Sherwood (Philostrate).
True to form, here Shakespeare playfully blurs the lines between lust and loathing, harmony and chaos, and fantasy and reality — creating an evening of marvelous mayhem for the entire family.
Demetris (Chris Donahue) adores Hermia (Raina D'Orazio), but she is in love with Lysander (Dan Cashman), while her pal Helena (Lisa Murray) is suffering the pangs of unrequited love for Demetris.
Enter Oberon, King of the Faeries (Byron Quinn), who allows mischief-maker Puck (Liz Morse) to run amuck among the unsuspecting lovers with bewitchingly hysterical results.
Nearby, The Mechanicals, a hapless troupe of actors (Nick Cazmay, Alicia D'Olimpio, Jess Geiger, Liam Leonard-Solis, Lysette Schaefer and Meg Weakley), lamely rehearse for an upcoming performance. Shakespeare gives a cheeky nod to another of his classic works, "Romeo and Juliet," in the troupe's farcical play-within-a-play, Pyramus and Thisbe, which features a very different pair of star-crossed lovers.
"'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is about the insanity of love; the struggle between following the rules or giving in to your baser desires, making it particularly relevant to teenagers trying to figure out their own right balance," said Lindsay Soson, the play's director.
Audiences this weekend will see a contemporary version of the 16th century comedy of errors — The Faeries are Goths, The Mechanicals are skater dudes and mischief-maker Puck is a punk rocker.
"I wanted to show students that Shakespeare isn't about olden times, it's about the struggles we all face searching for love," Soson explained.
Pentucket Arts Department Chairwoman Ellen Hart agrees.
"Students read the plays in English class, but this is a wonderful opportunity to see the work come to life as the Bard intended. The audience is left with a sense of how dynamic and relevant Shakespeare's plays are to the world we live in — we share the same temptations, struggles and pleasures. The human condition is timeless," Hart said.
Geiger, who performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company in London last April, likes that Pentucket's production is not a typical rendition.
"You can do anything you want with Shakespeare — and that's the beauty of it."
Others involved include Alex Barabeau, Aidan Bellinger, Melissa Bowden, Caroline Carbone, Stephanie Carbone, Ally Cashman, Alex Connors, Elena Costanzo, Melanie Dacey, Katie DuBois, Olivia Dunn, Caitlin Foley, Raven Foss, Randy Jackson, Andrew Kastrinelis, Shanee LeBarron, Samantha Ledwich, Kelsey Logan, Victoria Lustenberger, Julia Malonson, Julianne Meehan, Kelly Moynihan, Joey Napolitano, Shawna O'Neal, Erin O'Neil, Katie Piscatelli, Isaiah Proulx, Lindsey Schmidt, Katie Shernan, Brooke Snow, Emma Tipson and Katie Travers.
