SBHS Theater Presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Santa Barbara High School Theater Department is excited to announce their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream like you’ve never seen! Come join SBHS this spring in the forest for a night of magic, mischief, and music.

Shakespeare’s original text is being brought to life, but with the help of a wonderful playwright who has done a deep edit in order to make room for songs and dances. In addition, there is almost a full gender reversal of all the roles. Director, Gioia Marchese says, “I felt put off by some of the power dynamics in the relationships, they felt like well worn territory that did not need to be retread. I find that the gender reversal has brought new energy into all of the relationships and has been an exciting and empowering exploration for my students into gendered expectations on both sides and how it might feel to lean into a different set of rules.”

The themes that have made themselves known throughout the rehearsal process are: the power of peoples’ connection to nature as the rupture in the fairy kingdom has caused a storm to brew, the lengths people will go to for love, and the comfort of dreams when the reality of life is too strange to believe.

Synopsis: 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a story of the chaos that ensues when love is disrupted. Hippolyta, Queen of The Amazons, and Theseus, Duke of Athens are to be married and great celebrations are planned.

Into the forest

Egea brings her rebellious son Lysander in front of the Queen. Egea wants him to marry Helena but Lysander refuses, because he’s in love with Hermia. The Queen orders Lysander to obey his mother or, according to Amazonian law, he must face a death penalty.

Hermia and Lysander decide to elope that night. They confide in their friend Demetrius. However, he’s secretly in love with Helena so, hoping to win her affection, he tells her of Lysander’s plan. That night, all four lovers set out into the forest.

Meanwhile, a group of Amazonian tradespeople (known as the Mechanicals), led by Quince, are planning to perform a play in celebration of the Queen’s wedding. They rehearse The Tragedy of Pyramus and Thisben in the same forest.

Love at first sight 

Elsewhere in the forest, the fairy queen and king, Titania and Oberon, argue over Oberon’s refusal to give up his page-boy to Titania, causing a major disruption in nature. She sends her servant Puck to find a magic plant to cast a spell on Oberon.

The juice of the plant, when squeezed onto the eyes of someone asleep, causes them to fall in love with the first creature they see when they wake up. Titanis uses the juice on Oberon as he sleeps in his bower.

Puck overhears the tradespeople rehearsing and magically transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass. The others are terrified and flee the forest. When Oberon wakes, the first creature he sees is Bottom and he falls rapturously in love with him.

Demetrius chases Helena in the forest and their fighting disturbs Titania. She tells Puck to use the magic plant on Helena too, so that she will fall in love with Demetriua. However Puck muddles up the two Amazonian women and uses it on Hermia instead, who promptly falls in love with Demetrius. Both men are confused and Lysander furiously attacks his friend.

Stop reading now if you don’t want to know how it ends…

Eventually, Titania lifts all the enchantments and puts the humans to sleep. Oberon is horrified that he’s been enamoured of an ass and is reconciled with Titania. On waking, the lovers decide the night’s events must have all been a dream. Hermia and Lysander are back to normal, and Helena admits she does love Demetrius after all. Bottom wakes up and recounts his ‘strange dream’.

The wedding of Hippolyta and Theseus becomes a triple celebration as the other human couples marry too. Quince and Bottom’s troupe amuses the couples with their amateur performance of the play.

As the couples retire, Titania and Oberon reunite, nature comes back into alignment, the fairies perform a blessing, and Puck brings everyone out of the dream.

Director and SBHS Theater Department Head Gioia Marchese on why she chose this show: “I was looking for a show that fit our current group and Midsummer kept coming to mind. It has a great ensemble cast that provides juicy parts for many of our great actors. Midsummer naturally lends itself to music and dance as it is actually written in, in several places. With the rise in popularity of Ren Faire culture we have created a Renaissance Revival world with music from the late 60’s and early 70’s and costumes. We have a composer/arranger creating original arrangements to make it all feel like a cohesive soundtrack. Additionally our group of Mechanicals will be very physical, like an amateur performing group. The whole event will be an invitation to the audience to step out of the “real world” and spend time in this dream world with us.”