A Midsummer Night's Dream 2012 Tour
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Saturday, May 26, 6pm
Twin Lakes Park, Paris, IL
Sponsored by Paris Public Library, Paris Park Board, and Friends of Paris Library
The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve:
Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time.
Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time.
Our 2012 Tour takes us for the first time to Paris, IL. Join us as we present A Midsummer Night's Dream in 360 degrees. We invite you to bring a picnic, a blanket (or chair), your friends and family and your sense of play as we surround you with midsummer mischief and revelry. The play is about 90 minutes with no intermission. Our wonderful sponsors in Paris will be providing cotton candy and balloon animals to add to the fun of our midsummer magic.
In addition to our park performance, we will be doing a workshop at 2pm at the Paris Public Library (207 S. Main Street). Our Bringing Shakespeare to Life workshop is designed to give participants a deeper understanding of Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream and acting in general. This workshop is also free and open to the public. It is geared for students middle school to high school as well as adults. The workshop is approximately 90-minutes.
If you have any specific questions, please e-mail [email protected].
In addition to our park performance, we will be doing a workshop at 2pm at the Paris Public Library (207 S. Main Street). Our Bringing Shakespeare to Life workshop is designed to give participants a deeper understanding of Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream and acting in general. This workshop is also free and open to the public. It is geared for students middle school to high school as well as adults. The workshop is approximately 90-minutes.
If you have any specific questions, please e-mail [email protected].
Location: Twin Lakes Park
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About the playOften considered Shakespeare's marriage play, A Midsummer Night's Dream is really four stories in one. The play opens on the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and his bride-to-be Hippolyta (the first story) as they briefly discuss their wedding. Quickly they are interrupted and we learn of a pair of lovers and an angry father (the second story). When the Duke leaves to counsel his subject the lovers devise to run away through the forest. Before we follow them there, we move into town and meet a group of "Rude Mechanicals," skilled-laborers of Athens, that are bent on creating a play to present to the Duke on his wedding day (third story). The Rude Mechanicals also decide to visit the forest in order to rehearse this play. From there we move into the forest where we meet Robin Goodfellow and his fellow fairies. The Fairy King and Queen, Oberon and Titania, are in the midst of an argument that is causing ripples throughout both fairy and human worlds (fourth story), and this particular midsummer night is the night Oberon chooses to end the argument one way or another. The stories all come crashing together as fairies, lovers, workers and eventually the Duke himself meet in the woods, having encounters that lead them all to wonder just what happened and what might have simply been a dream.
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This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Illinois General Assembly.