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Mundelein Theater gives 'Midsummer Night' a twist

Mundelein Theatre is putting a modern twist on one of William Shakespeare's most enduring and endearing comedies, "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

The play is set in the day room of a psychiatric hospital. The story and language remain the same, portraying the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of mechanicals who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set.

The play will be presented in the Mundelein High School Auditorium at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 2-4. An after-school matinee is also set for 3:45 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, which is free for MHS students. Tickets are a recommended donation of $5 for students and seniors and $7 for adults. Since the production will be staged on a 200-seat onstage thrust configuration, ticket reservations are recommended, and are available at www.mundeleintheatre.org. Tickets can also be purchased at the door 30 minutes before each performance.

"It is not unusual to take Shakespeare's plays out of their original settings and place them in different eras and time periods," the play's director Jonathan Meier said. "I think placing the play in a modern day hospital setting gives the play additional poignancy."

The concept has the patients at the hospital performing the play after most of the staff of the hospital has gone home for the evening. "The students took the characteristics that they developed when analyzing their 'Midsummer' characters, and used that information to create their hospital characters. It was a really enlightening process."

Leading the cast are Dan Haller as Lysander, Halli Carpender as Hermia, Robbie Iraburo-Cochran as Demetrius, Payton Cousins as Helena, Emily Parduhn as Titania, James Haller as Oberon, Colin Nacion as Puck, Kayla Raye as Bottom, Brianna Moderhack as Quince, Ryan Story as Flute, Jenna Panos as Snout, Mackenzie Haith as Snug, Natalie Williams as Starvling, Thomas Ferro as Theseus, and Claire Bullington as Hippolyta. Completing the cast are Sydney Litka, Jasmine Cuasay, Annie McGrath, Kate Fladhammer, Ellie Mellen, Kimberly Barr, Emily Saunders, Josh Saunders, Abby Smith, Bella Canela, Hannah Weiss and Joey Salit. Brenden Paul is the stage manager and Maddie Martorana and Ginny Zundel are the assistant directors.

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