BY ANNELIESE M. GORDON, Junior
BLYTHEWOOD-- The Blythewood High School Drama Department paints a vivid and comical picture of Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” bringing an enjoyable and modern twist experience to its audiences.
The combination of director and drama teacher, Sandra Doolittle and the young, talented cast go beyond in portraying Shakespeare’s work in an understandable and enchanting manner.
Opening with the Duke of Athens, Theseus and his bride-to-be, Hippolyta, discussing their desire for each other and the wedding that shall come when“four happy days bring in a new moon”, the audience only ponders to where will this play be going.
In fact, the plot of the play goes left, right, up and down leaving one doubled over in their chairs laughing. Many of the thanks being not only to Robin “Puck” Goodfellow, a character in the play but the overall enactment of the BHS cast members.
Expertly chosen, the message is clear how well and in sync each member was with the production and each other, whether behind scenes or on set.
Effortlessly swinging and dodging the poles of the set, each actor “owned the stage” continuing to tell the complicated, flip flopping love story of Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius.
It begins as a love triangle between Athenians Lysander, Demetrius and Hermia, she choosing Lysander or death rather than her fiance, Demetris.
However, when the faerie king Oberon, of a very different world than our lovers, gives an order for Puck, his servant and masterful prankster, to find a magical love flower, things only go downhill from there.
Mistaking Lysander for Demetrius, Helena becomes the love of Lysander’s life after being sprinkled with the magic flower by Puck, thus him leaving Hermia in the middle of the night, alone.
Meanwhile Demetrius is sprinkled with this flower, and falls madly in love with Helena also. Although earlier she was chasing Demetrius for his heart, she cannot seem to accept his love nor Lysanders for anything more than a prank and is confronted by Hermia in a fight for the heart of Lysander.
Another comical addition to the production is a group of western “actors” working on a play for Theseus’ wedding. One of the actors, Bottom, after being turned into a donkey thanks to Puck, becomes the highlight of a prank on the faerie queen Titania, who is Oberon’s love.
Even though love was a back and forth struggle, in the end the love flower was finally delivered to the proper people joining Helena with Demetrius, Lysander with Hermia and Titania with Oberon, all in all adding a fairytale ending to a comical production.
The western actors even got to perform their “play” for Theseus and his new bride.
Despite the many confusions and tricks, Puck sets things straight encouraging the audience to take what was just witnessed as something of a magical, comical.
Having executed the production so flawlessly, from the music and lighting to the acting and timing, the BHS Drama Department succeeded in turning an audiences’ “Midsummer Night’s Dream” into a sparkingly, humourous reality.
