Perhaps your last memory of Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream" involves Michelle Pfeiffer and Calista Flockhart prancing about in the woods somewhere. But maybe your last experience with the play was less pleasant - take someone whose name shall not be mentioned (ahem, Meredith Brown) omitting an entire soliloquy in an eighth-grade performance, for example.
However simple - or traumatizing - your memories of the play may be, Pen, Paint & Pretzels' upcoming production of it is sure to leave you with an entirely new perspective on the classic.
Directed by junior Caitlin Johnson, this performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" has a modern, fresh feel, but it adheres to Shakespeare's original prose and basic plot.
Lysander (senior Laura Semine) and Hermia (Ashley Berman) are in love but cannot wed due to the insistence of Hermia's father, Egeus (junior Dana Massey-Todd) that she marry another man, Demetrius (junior David Jenkins). Demetrius claims to love Hermia but is tormented by the relentless advances of Helena (junior David Adler), whom he always refuses with great strain.
Meanwhile, Oberon (sophomore Michael Taub), the king of the fairies, sends his attendant Puck (sophomore Laur Fisher) into the wood to perform various spells on unsuspecting people, namely fairy queen Titania (junior Chelsea Toder), with whom Oberon has recently been quarreling.
As a subplot, a ragtag wandering theater troupe struggles to organize a performance of the Greek classic "Pyramus and Thisbe" that will be presented to the duke of Athens and his new bride. Needless to say, as is the case with many Shakespearian comedies, confusion resulting from mistaken identity ensues, but all is made right in the end.
What makes this weekend's performance of "Midsummer" different from most is that the character of Helena is not a woman but a gay man, and that Lysander is not a man but a lesbian woman. Demetrius, in this version, denies his homosexuality, which is why he continues for most of the play to spurn Helena's advances, despite their palpable and mounting sexual tension.
Egeus's rejection of a marriage between Hermia and Lysander is no longer just about his choosing the appropriate husband for his daughter. Now, it's something of a comment on the troubles modern-day same-sex couples face.
Cross-casting "Midsummer" was an idea Johnson toyed with for some time. The director said she wanted to make this version of the show more appealing to a modern audience and aimed to make the marriage between Hermia and Lysander "resonate with women" in a way that orthodox performances of "Midsummer" do not.
Johnson is not worried about people who may protest the modifications made to the cast and the implicit changes to characters' sexuality that result.
"Everyone is rooting for these characters; they elicit a response from audiences that the traditional characters do not... Shakespeare has become so 'English class.' Let's get people talking about Shakespeare again," Johnson said.
Dave Adler, who plays Helena, offers another perspective: "I guess if someone's offended by the image of same-sex relationships, he might have a small aversion to the play, but, honestly there's a truth that the director, Caitlin, has brought to the play, and in my opinion, it doesn't matter that we're cross-cast, because in the end, the play is really just about love," he said.
Indeed, the innovation of cross-casting can easily detract attention from just how good the play is as a whole. As Laura Semine points out, "there will be a fair number of students [in attendance] who just want to see girls or guys make out."
While these students will not be disappointed in that regard, they should keep in mind that, homosexual make-out or not, "Midsummer" is really quite well-done and funny.
Scenes featuring the wandering theater troupe are usually a favorite among "Midsummer" audiences, as they involve some of the more exaggerated characters in the show. These scenes in Johnson's version provide some of the funniest moments of the play.
But to the credit of the director, cast and crew of "Midsummer," highlighting all the humorous, effectual moments of the show would be incredibly cumbersome, and one should probably just see it in order to reap the full rewards.
