By Sarah Daniels, Content Manager
Gettysburg College’s theater arts department closed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” written by William Shakespeare, on Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. The performance, in Stevens Theater in Brua Hall, was an Advanced Directing Independent Study conducted by Katie Poliero ’25.
A fun tale of love, fairies and acting, the story began with a squabble. The king, Thesus, played by Paige Drummond ’28, and the queen, Hippolyta, played by Kazmira Maney ’28, are listening to a father’s plea to make his daughter, Hermia, played by Ren Mirenda ’27, marry somebody she does not love. Egeus, the father, played by Brant Miller ’27, insists that his choice of husband for Hermia is Demetrius, played by Ryan Melinn ’26, not Lysander, played by Jade Gladue ’28. Lysander declares his love for Hermia while Demetrius looks on with anger.
Helena, played by Lee Repins ’26, enters afterward, begging Demetrius to accept her love, choosing to marry her instead of Hermia. He consistently insists he does not love her. Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius head into the forest, where they eventually fall asleep.
Puck, a fairy, played by Addison Journey ’28, enters with an herb that makes a sleeping person fall in love with whomever their eyes see when they awake. Lysander and Demetrius have this spell placed on them, and awake, both madly in love with Helena. Hermia is confused at Lysander’s sudden rejection of her advances, and Demetrius and Lysander fight over Helena’s affections.
While these quabbles are going on, the fairy queen, Titania, is also placed under the same herb’s spell, falling in love with an actor, Bottom, played by Brayton Alkinburgh ’24, who is conveniently wearing a donkey head for his play, rehearsed with a band of other actors. These actors, Grace Aulicino ’28, Devon Szczepkowicz ’27, Kersey Jones ’27 and Paz Tamayo ’28, double as fairies, who serve Bottom at Titania’s request before Puck eventually removes the spell.
Puck also removes the spell from the four Athenians, and they return to their regular behaviors and love. Bottom, after being left by Titania, puts a hilariously bad play on with the mentioned band of actors with characters including a wall and a lantern.
The play was a hilarious production with plenty of reaction from the audience. The special effects, costumes and lighting perfectly matched the woodsy theme of the performance. Devyn Wesolowski ’25 was in charge of scenic design and operating the light board. Wesolowski also worked with Danny Yanes ’28 as co-stage managers. Nicholas Ryan ’25 handled lighting and sound design, and Stephanie Sol ’27 was in charge of costume design. Jenna Rhoads ’28 was the soundboard operator.
Audience member Riley Dunbar ’27 commented on the show: “I’m not a typical theater go-er, but I think all the actors got their chance to shine. It was wonderful, and it was really nice to see their efforts come to life in such a vibrant and funny show.”
Another member of the audience, Melanie Flynn ’27, agreed with Dunbar’s sentiments, saying “I think the actors did amazing, and it was very entertaining. I loved the interpretation of the play, and everyone was amazing.”
One of the actors, Kersey Jones ’27, enjoyed performing. “I, personally, think it’s just hilarious,” she said.
