Mike Ricci's Production of
A Midsummer Night's Dream 

Shakespeare has created what is perhaps his most entertaining, most musical, and certainly his most popular comedy with this play. It is a great tribute to his genius that countless people still perform it, and countless more go to see it four hundred years after its first performance. We could find any number of reasons why this is so. Those who have read the play in school have dissected its themes of love and loyalty, of familial obedience, of the continuing struggle between our more primitive desires, and a higher understanding of our existence. While all of these are a part of the play, and provide an academic backdrop through which to enter the play, it is only through live performance that we come to understand the real power of "Midsummer". Even though it is supposedly set in ancient Athens, the play transcends time and place, and becomes universal in its ability to speak directly to all of us on some level. Which of us has not been moved by the urges and power of being in love? And which of us has found themselves doing things that seemed almost irrational, born from desires difficult to comprehend? Perhaps all of us at one time or another, have found this to be true.

Yet it is another, more tangible element that fascinated me -- that of the physical world that Shakespeare had created, and how that could be represented on stage. There are any number of imaginative designs of the magical forest that can be created on stage. The one I have come up with is probably a combination of the many elements taken from a variety of sources, but put together in a way that hopefully, gives the play an immediacy and a look that will serve it well. The world of this play is filled with symbols of magic -- the moon, water, flowers, shadows, spirits, sounds, and music. As these elements weave together, they form the forest in which magic can occur. Of course, we can't have any of this magic were it not for the fairies. While it can be said that they represent the unihibited side of our nature, they may also be that part of our existence that remains unexplained -- the supernatural. We acknowledge its presence while remaining ignorant of its real purpose. Yet we are in awe of its power. The fairies are dreams come to life, and while they seem to be primarily a medieval creation, their presence exists even today, in the form of angels and aliens. They exist in another dimension that can only be entered if our mind is willing to accept them -- and indeed, this is what the play is really all about -- our ability to accept what we are seeing and feeling.

Ulitmately though, the experience of "Midsummer" is the joy of being alive, of passionately feeling everything that is happening to each of us, and experiencing the wonder of the world around us. It is our hope that eac of you take away a little part of that magic with you.