Dream On
Directed & Choreographed By – Lyn Aston
Musical Director – Mark Chadwick
The Story
The play is set in Athens in the run-up to the Olympic Games. Theseus, Duke of Athens, is pledged to marry Hippolyta, who is a Latin American from Venezuela. Theseus has two great athletes, Demetrius and Lysander.
Hermia and Lysander are in love with each other. However, Egeus, the father of Hermia, favours Demetrius who love Hermia. Egeus tells Hermia that she will be banished to a nunnery if she does not marry Demetrius. Lysander and Hermia decide they will meet in the enchanted wood, from where they will escape. They tell Helena, friend of Hermia, about their plans to elope. Helena is in love with Demetrius, but, of course, he is in love with Hermia.
In the meantime, the Rude Mechanicals (a literary and theatrical term for Shakespeare’s workers, who often provide the comic relief) are planning to stage a play for the wedding of the Duke. They decide to rehearse their play in the woods, where it is quite and peaceful, and where they will not be disturbed. Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of the fairies, both live in the woods with their own teams of fairies. Oberon asks Titania if he can hire her accountant because his has been ”fiddling the books”. Titania refuses, as she dislikes Oberon immensely since they had a lover’s quarrel.
Oberon is angry that Titania will not oblige, so he calls on his good friend Robin Goodfellow to help him weave a magic spell over Titania. He asks Robin to go to Europe, where he will find a magical herb, and to bring the herb back to Oberon. The herd is placed on the eyelid of a sleeping person, when the person awakes, the first person they see they will fall in love with. Oberon intends to use this on Titania, and who knows who or what she will wake up to? Oberon gives Robin the fairy name of Puck before he departs for Europe. Meanwhile, the lovers go to the woods for their meeting in preparation to elope. Helena has told Demetrius of the secret meeting, so Demetrius sets off for the woods to find the woman he loves. Helena follows him, but Demetrius tells her that it is Hermia he loves and not she.
Puck returns with the magic herb, and the tangled web begins. Night falls and it is a warm midsummer night in the enchanted woods. Fairies are mischievous creatures who spin a tangled web of magic on the mortals.
Will anything be normal again?
Cast of Characters
HERMIA – Sarah Wright
HELENA – Kendra Jones
LYSANDER – Steven Jones
DEMETRIUS – Huw Phillips
OBERON – James Harper
TITANIA – Libby Bove
ROBIN GOODFELLA/PUCK – Seren Evens
THESEUS/CORLEONE BROTHER – Matthew Large
HIPPOLYTA – Melissa Jones
PHILOSTRATE/CORLEONE BROTHER – Lucy Dean
BOTTEM – Dominic Simms
FLUTE – Stephen Williams
QUINCE – Rebecca Dobbins
SNUG – Clare Bayliss
SNOUT – James Cox
STARVELING – Ceri Buck
EGEUS – Gemma Roth
CHORUS & FAIRIES
COBWEB – Keira Pugh
PEASEBLOSSOM – Emma Humphreys
MOTH – Danielle Roberts
MUSTARDSEED – Jennie Davies
FAIRY OF TITANIA – Helen Edwards
FAIRY OF TITANIA – Claire Humphreys
FAIRY OF OBERON – Elizabeth Barker
FAIRY OF OBERON – Jenny Bannister
FAIRY OF OBERON – David Evans
FAIRY OF OBERON – James Tyrell
FAIRY OF OBERON – Simon Tyrell
Production Team
DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER – Lyn Aston
MUSICAL DIRECTOR – Mark Chadwick
TECHNICAL MANAGER – Andrew Nadin
LIGHTING DESIGN – Andrew Nadin
SOUND – Andrew Nadin
LIGHTING – Matt Jones
STAGE MANAGER – Alan Edwards
COSTUMES – Julie Wright, Stephanie Evans, The Children
SET BUILDING – Tony Aston, Jack Robertson,Bill Hewitt, Graham Lloyd
BACK STAGE CREW – Kathryn Crabtree, Graham Lloyd, Roesja Blok
PUBLICITY – Joan Robertson
MAKEUP – Amanda Dobbins, Rebecca Williams
TICKETS – Robina Crawford
PROMPTERS – Laura Roberts, Shaun Edwards
FRONT OF HOUSE – Joan Robertson, Ruth Jones, Beryl Humphries
PROGRAMME – Lyn Aston
SPECIAL THANKS
All the Mums, Dads and relatives who did costumes, Jack Robertson for the Fairy Wings. Bellis’ Country Market for the supply of plants.
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