Schoolhouse Arts Center at Sebago Lake (SACASL) will present Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream beginning October 1st.
Directed by Jane Bergeron, A Midsummer Night's Dream will be performed October 1-17, at SACASL’s theater, located on Rt.114 just north of Rt. 35. Friday and Saturday performances will be at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday performances will be at 2 p.m. Tickets are available by calling 642-3743.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is the culmination of SACASL's four-month-long Shakespeare Performance Workshop. Students from nine Maine communities spent three months this summer studying Shakespeare's language, and the historical, mythological and thematic elements of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The program has continued into the fall, with six-weeks of intensive rehearsals, and ends with the October performances.
Jane Bergeron, actor, director, theater educator, and founder of Vintage Repertory Company, began rehearsing with the cast in mid-August, after the workshop portion of the program concluded. Bergeron says, "I always love doing Shakespeare with children, because they approach the work fearlessly and honestly and have no preconceived ideal about the material, which often gets in the way with older actors. Working with these students has been a wonderful experience for me. They are so absolutely committed to the project and to their own personal growth as actors."
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a magical story of young lovers, mischievous fairies, and a hilariously inept band of actors crossing paths while in a dark Athenian woods. It is a treat for the eyes and ears, with poetry, music, and Shakespeare's fantastic vision of a world of magic gone astray. According to Bergeron, "A Midsummer Night's Dream is the most accessible of Shakespeare's plays, because it reminds us of the fairy tales we all read as children. It's full of love and hate, magic and mischief and a happily-ever-after ending".
A Midsummer Night's Dream is the opening show of Schoolhouse Arts Center's 2004-2005 season. Upcoming productions include A Christmas Carol: the Musical, All My Sons, and The Music Man.
Founded in 1989, The Schoolhouse Arts Center strives to stimulate and encourage interest in the arts and enrich the community by providing opportunities for theatrical involvement and arts education. For more information call 642-3743.
(l-r) Marcus Bagala, Caitlin Libby, Haydn Deal and Devin Bee rehearse for Schoolhouse Arts Center's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
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