On Friday, Dec. 6, Eastern Michigan University Theatre For the Young Tour brought their latest show, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to campus. The show was performed in the Sponberg Theatre at 7 p.m. on Dec. 6 and 7, and at 2 p.m. on Dec. 7 and 8. The Dec. 8 performance was accessible with ASL.
Though these tours have typically focused on children, this show was aimed at a teenage demographic. It adapted Shakespeare’s comedy with a modern flare, including contemporary costuming and pop music between scenes. For example, Puck was a DJ, the play opened with “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry, Hermia had a Squishmallow and axolotl blanket, and Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift were featured on the soundtrack.
“Shakespeare is so universal, right? It speaks to all of us now on a variety of different levels,” Brian Sage, the show's director, said. “Since we were taking it to high schools, it was really important to me that they were able to connect it on a not so ‘oh this is traditional Shakespeare’ while we were still doing kind of very traditional Shakespeare things. Like, even in Elizabethan times, those actors would have been in what would have been considered contemporary clothes.”
The play leaned into the comedy, both in its execution of the original jokes in the play and the addition of new, modern humor. The show was absolutely hysterical, with strong comedic acting. In particular, the four lovers bounced off each other in the best melodramatic ways possible; and the theater troupe within the show had golden comedic surprises, especially when they put on their own show within the show.
On touring a comedy, Sage said, “over the course of those tour performances, those tourings, I think it really grew and blossomed and [the cast] found out where a lot of the jokes worked, you know, with certain audiences.”
The costuming did a great job translating the characters into a contemporary setting. For the human characters, their roles were immediately recognizable. Meanwhile, the fairies wore whimsical, flower and nature-based pieces. “Floral is kind of laced throughout the show,” Sage said, on costuming. The costumes were conceptualized by Ashlynn Swauger.
Though Shakespeare’s old form of English can be difficult to understand for some, the show was accessible due to the acting and designs. EMU's “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” told the story of four lovers caught in a love square, a theater troupe planning a play for Theseus and Hyppolyta’s wedding, and the mischievous fairies who lived in the woods outside of Athens. These subplots crashed into each other one night in the woods, leading to magic and mayhem.
Tickets can be bought online through the Legacy Box Office at EMU. They can also be bought in-person at the Sponberg Theater, which is located in Judy Sturgis-Hill.
Frank Remski is a film and theater reviewer for the Eastern Echo. He is majoring in media studies and journalism and minoring in public relations. He has worked for The Echo since summer of 2023 and has written both news stories and opinion pieces.
