A Midsummer Night’s Dream Come True

“What cheer, my love?” 

In the words of Shakespeare, “the course of true love never did run smooth.” Neither did putting together a full Shakespearean production! Countless hours, endless energy, and authentic love for the performing arts has allowed the Chico State’s School of the Arts’ production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to come to fruition.

With preliminary costume and set designs beginning mid-November, and rehearsals and set construction in late January, the timeless classic has been brought to life by inspired student-artists dedicated to the arts.

Director Cynthia Lammel remarked on the drive behind selecting A Midsummer Night’s Dream for a modern reinvention, noting that what makes it appealing is that it’s a play about the expression of love through art.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream is produced so often by so many theatres of all kinds that most people have seen it at least once. So, why would we want to put on yet another production? In a word, love.”

This labor of love took on an entirely literal meaning as the modern rendition of a 522-year-old play involved 70 percent of the show’s visuals being constructed from scratch.

Collaborative efforts from artisans; makeup, costume, and set designers; costume shop crews; tech crews; directors; actors and many others have developed a distinctive world of lovers, fairies, and rude mechanicals.

Looking at their hard work by the numbers reveals just a snapshot of what it takes to turn a dream into reality:

126 seats in the theatre

92 lighting instruments hung

60 yards of China silk

24 student cast members

14 gold cuff bracelets

7 gallons of paint to paint the stage floor

7 full columns

5 acts

4 broken columns

4 dedicated makeup artists

4 designers (costume, lighting, sound and set)

2 football fields of braided rope

1 director

Don’t miss your chance to see the elaborate production during the show’s run at Wismer Theatre (PAC 135), March 8–11 and March 13–15 with evening and weekend matinee performances. For tickets and showtimes, visit www.chicostatetickets.com or contact the University Box Office at 530-898-6333. If available, tickets may be purchased at the door prior to each performance. More information can be found on the School of the Arts Facebook page.