Oklahoma Shakespeare brings back 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' with inspiration by The Beatles
Classical magic is returning this summer to Oklahoma City's Paseo Arts District .
"I've never heard anybody say, 'Oh, you're doing "Midsummer" again? I'm so bored of that.' ... Everyone is like '"Midsummer!" Oh, my goodness, I love that; it's one of my favorites.' Or, 'Oh, I'd love to bring my kids to see that; they've never seen Shakespeare before.'" said OKC actor, director and playwright Erin Woods .
"It's a play that, whenever I see it, it just brings a smile to my face."
For the first outdoor show of its 40th anniversary season, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park is revisiting William Shakespeare's perennially popular "A Midsummer Night's Dream" — arguably the ultimate Shakespeare in the Park show — June 13-30 in its Shakespeare Gardens Outdoor Amphitheatre in the Paseo.
"Because you are outside, because you are connecting with the natural world, because so much of the play takes place with fairies and people in the woods ... it's a special play that speaks exactly to your actual 'right here, right now' experience," said Woods, who is directing this summer's production.
"It's a fantastic marriage of poetry and clowns. There's some speeches in it that are absolutely unforgettable, when it comes to Shakespeare ... and his take on the natural world and our connections to it as humans. Then, there's also this just undeniable, broad comedy that is seamlessly brought into it."
What is 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' about?
Oklahoma Shakespeare last performed The Bard's beloved supernatural comedy in summer 2021, as the first show in its outdoor performance space in the Paseo.
"We've joked, 'Should we just do it every year?' Every year someone calls asking if we're doing it ... because it's just pretty great," said Tyler Woods, who has assumed the role of the theater company's artistic and executive director with the recent retirement of company co-founder Kathryn McGill .
"My first role with Shakespeare in the Park was as Demetrius . ... So, this will be my ninth time or something to have either directed, produced, acted and or in some such way be involved with it."
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" begins as preparations are underway for a royal wedding of Theseus ( Paxton Kliewer ), Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta ( Tiffany Tuggle ), Queen of the Amazons.
Living up to its famous line "The course of true love never did run smooth," the multilayered story also follows two troubled young couples: Hermia (Abigail Schmitz) loves Lysander (Lucas Schrantz), and Helena ( Olivia Akers ) loves Demetrius ( Karam Alkhatib ). But Hermia has been ordered by her father, Egeus (Jimmy Pike), to marry Demetrius.
So, the four lovers flee into the nearby woods, where the rulers of the fairy kingdom — King Oberon and Queen Titania (Kliewer and Tuggle again) — are at odds over the fate of a foundling child, and their conflict disturbs the forces of nature.
With Oberon's mischievous sidekick Puck (Bellah Crawford) eager to create magical mayhem and an amateur theater troupe searching for a rehearsal space so they can put on the play "Pyramus and Thisbe" for the royal wedding, it doesn't take long for madcap merriment to spread throughout the enchanted forest.
When and where is Oklahoma Shakespeare's new production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' set?
With the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta as the backdrop, productions of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" are typically set in ancient Greece in Athens and the surrounding woods.
But Erin Woods is setting Oklahoma Shakespeare's new production in late 1960s London, inspired by The Beatles' rendition of "Pyramus and Thisbe" for the taping of a British television special called "Around the Beatles." The Fab Four's uproarious 1964 performance was part of England's celebration of Shakespeare's 400th birthday.
"To see the hottest pop group of the time ... perform the play-within-the-play, to use Shakespeare's words to perform this silly bit of fun, it's hilarious," the director said. "So, we took our inspiration from that particular bit of pop culture ... and we have a few surprises in the show."
Along with researching 1960s fashion designers who were working in London — particularly women — Woods said she has worked closely with costume designer Anwen Wenger on the show.
"The beautiful outdoor set ... looks already like buildings that you would have seen on King's Road or Carnaby Street in London in 1967, because it's got that old-world feel to it, like so many buildings have in London," Woods said.
"So, the costumes have been our focus ... and we want to make sure that the look of this show is telling the story that we want to tell."
YOUNG COMPANY RETURNS SUMMER 2024! ♥ https://www.okshakes.org/young-company-theatre-camp ♥ photo: OSP Young Company 2022 #okshakespeare #paseoartsdistrict
Posted by Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park on Thursday, April 25, 2024
How is 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' heralding the return of the company's Young Company Theatre Camp?
The nonprofit theater's new production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" also is providing a springboard for Oklahoma Shakespeare to bring back its Young Company Theatre Camp June 24-29 in the Paseo.
Under the direction of Schmitz, the five-day camp will teach teenagers the fundamentals of classical acting, culminating in a special camp performance June 29 ahead of the professional company's performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
"Usually, the main-stage cast, some of them get to see the kids' show, and they get so excited. They're like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm stealing something from that kid, because it's so good.' And it usually is: It's fresh and it's fun," Erin Woods said. "It's a way to see Shakespeare through younger eyes, which is such an exciting way to look at Shakespeare."
'A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM'
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When: June 13-30.
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Where: Shakespeare Gardens Outdoor Amphitheatre, 2920 Paseo.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC theater's new 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is inspired by Beatles
