Vibrancy Theater is performing William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” running until Oct. 24, bringing the world of Athens, Greece, to beloved Athens, Ohio.
Unlike the original production, performed by an all male cast, Vibrancy’s Midsummer featured both sexes. Part of the theater’s mission is to uplift the voices of people of color at Ohio University, something that would have been absent from early productions of Midsummer.
The director, Sarah Curtis, a third-year graduate student studying directing, said making Midsummer a good fit for Vibrancy was a matter of adapting the actors to the show and not the show to the actors.
“It was fun to look at the people that I collaborated with and say, ‘How do we want to do this?’ Curtis said. “‘How does this language sit in you?’ versus imposing, ‘This is how I think Shakespearean acting should or has looked like for centuries.’”
Annaka Guerrero, a senior studying musical theater, plays one of the show’s love interests, Helena.
“I just think she's such a fun character and I think she can be sometimes misinterpreted,” Guerrero said. “I just love her so much, she is very funny and comedy is really fun to explore.”
Part of staging a classic show is the reimagination of what has been done so many times before. Guerrero said the reimagination helps reveal classics’ relevancy, several years later.
“Using our resources now to be able to modify them or change them up a little bit or reimagine them just keeps them very fun and fresh,” Guerrero said. “It shows how they're still relevant to this day.”
Part of the reimagination for this show specifically involves working with the Shakespearean language. This, Curtis said, was an “interesting challenge.”
“Some of the jokes in the play, it's like, ‘Is this funny now?’” Curtis said. “‘I don't really think it is, so how do we make it (funny) now?’”
Abigail Carey, a junior studying biological sciences, attended Saturday's performance with her roommates. The language, she said, was not challenging to understand.
“I feel like just watching it, you're able to kind of follow along, even if you don't fully understand what they're saying,” Carey said.
The show’s set, lighting, music and actors play a role in the audience’s understanding, experience and enjoyment, according to a previous report by The Post. Guerrero said one of her favorite scenes is part of the play’s resolution, when her co-actor delivers a monologue directed toward her.
“I love that moment,” Guerrero said. “I love being able to be his acting partner in that moment, and hearing him say it.”
Guerrero said acting in the show thus far has been a dream. After she first read the play in high school, Guerrero said she immediately wanted to be Helena.
“When we were bowing and everyone was applauding it was a very surreal moment,” Guerrero said. “We've been working on the show for a while, and I've wanted to play this role for so long that it felt kind of crazy to actually be there bowing and playing this role.”
Audience members may also walk out of the theater with a similar feeling. Another author during Shakespeare’s time, Samuel Pepys, saw a performance of the show and reported it as “the most insipid ridiculous play that ever I saw in my life.”
While Pepys meant this as no compliment, Curtis said she took no offense.
“H--- yeah, it is, it's ridiculous, it's funny, it's lovely,” Curtis said. “I think Shakespeare would have said, ‘H--- yeah,’ too.”
“It is a very funny all over the place play,” Carey said. “But I kind of like it for that reason.”
Despite its lightheartedness, the show does have a message behind the mischief.
“I think the show is about what happens when we try and control desire,” Curtis said. “I think Shakespeare is telling us desire is always going to win out, so you might as well just do what you want. You might as well love who you want. You might as well pursue the career that you want, because controlling it is only going to lead to mistakes in the woods.”
“You don't really choose who you love; it just happens to you,” Guerrero said. “You have to fight for what you love, or who you love … you can't fight against who you love.”
The remaining performances take place Oct. 23 and 24 at 8 p.m. in the E.E. Baker Theater in Kantner Hall. General admission tickets are $10; tickets for seniors and non-OU students are $7.
