The Englewood Theatre Company is at it again as it prepares to enchant audiences with its full production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The company is under new management this year after a series of staff changes, but Mx. Rainsford assures students that this year will be better than ever for the performing arts.
“It’s complicated. So I know that the school has a lot of people who are really involved. We’ve got a great set design team, we’ve got a great tech team, and lots of enthusiasm from the students. So that feels really good. I’m definitely excited for our For All show at Summer Night’s Dream. It’s going to be great. I think everyone is going to love it and have a great time and fall in love, hopefully, with Shakespeare, as it’s something a little bit old but a little bit new. And we’re going to put our own stuff into it,” Mx Rainsford said.
This new leadership also ushers in the return of something that was lost from the theater for many years: middle school participation. The increase in theater participants and general interest in the arts ensures that Englewood Theater will continue long after this year’s seniors leave.
Thespian President John Brennan said the change is a positive one, “Middle schoolers always provide a bigger cast, a better community. I started in middle school. A lot of my friends started in middle school. And it just gets you more excited, and it gets more people hyped up for high school theater, which is where the magic really happens. Middle schoolers are an integral part of every show we do. We wouldn’t be able to live without them. Well, we have done them in the past without middle schoolers, but it’s just not the same. I feel like all my senior peers have done a great job. And after this year, we’re going to leave the theater in a great place for what I hope is a new beginning with a bunch of new people.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a whimsical tale of love, magic, and mayhem where fairies meddle, lovers get tangled, and mules aren’t just used for travel. Love, magic, fairies, and mischief are mixed into this Shakespearean tale.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a Shakespearean comedy about love and magic, blending multiple intertwined plots. The story follows four young lovers—Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena who get caught in a magical forest and become targets of fairy mischief due to a quarrel between the fairy king Oberon and queen Titania.
Meanwhile, a group of Athenian craftsmen rehearsing a play is also affected, most notably when Puck gives the weaver Bottom the head of a donkey, which causes the fairy queen to fall in love with him. By morning, the magic is reversed, love triangles are resolved, and everyone returns to Athens to celebrate the upcoming wedding of Duke Theseus and Hippolyta with a humorous play.
Performances will be on November 10th, 11th, and 12th.
For more information, please see the theater’s Instagram page, @engtheatercompany.
