The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Variety

Media Credit: Courtesy Michelle Dodson Jacqueline Carey, an MFA performance student, poses in a University Theatre's performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." [Click to enlarge]

"To sleep, perchance to dream." With that utterance, William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" begins. And are dreams not one of the principal forces that drive us to the theater? The possibilities for what we may see on the stage are limited by only the imagination. It is in theater that we explore that imagination. It is in theater that we dream to the highest degree. That sentiment is especially poignant in Shakespeare's classic comedy.

At the core of the play's plot are the nuptials between an Athenian duke and an Amazonian queen. Revolving around this ceremony is a smorgasbord of hijinks involving histrionic lovers, boorish actors and mischievous fairies.

The play will be performed by the University Theatre beginning Thursday at the Fine Arts Theatre.

At the helm of the endeavor to bring this dream to the stage is Kristin Kundert-Gibbs. As director, she describes herself as a guide "to make sure that we're all going in the same direction." She also said a chief responsibility is to create an environment in which actors "feel that they can safely make themselves vulnerable and express themselves."

Jacqueline Carey, a graduate student from The Colony, Texas, who plays Puck, said the trust she has in Kundert-Gibbs leaves her "completely free to try something new every night."

The actors themselves bring a play to life. Amy Roeder, a graduate student from New London, Minn., who plays Titania, said, "If you're not doing your best when you're out on stage, you're not just cheating the audience, you are cheating the people you're on stage with ... and you're cheating yourself ... I'm Lutheran, Scandinavian. Guilt is a big thing for us."


Additionally, one of the criticisms of Shakespeare is the lofty language makes the story difficult to understand.

Harry Valentine, a freshman from Athens who plays Lysander, said, "I don't want people to look at my performance and think that they have to study it."

Other naysayers of Shakespeare might point to the leaden plot and morbid tone, as is present in works such as "Romeo and Juliet" or "Macbeth." But the overwhelming consensus among all involved in this production is they are set on shattering such misconceptions.

Perhaps most dedicated to that end is Eleanor Carter, a senior from Atlanta who plays Hermia, who said she wants to "prove that Shakespeare can be fun."

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