Season Select: A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream

By William Shakespeare

Directed by David Daniel

Fast Facts

Playing: Hill Theatre | June 7 - October 5
Featuring: Nate Burger, Joshua Castille, Maggie Cramer, Jim DeVita, Tim Gittings, Casey Hoekstra, Josh Krause, Elizabeth Ledo, Sam Luis Massaro, Samantha Newcomb, James Ridge, Marcus Truschinski
Genre: Shakespeare Comedy
Last Seen at APT: 2017
Go If You Liked: Much Ado About Nothing (2024), Romeo & Juliet (2023), The Liar (2023)

About A Midsummer Night's Dream

What better way to start off your summer than with the play that started it all? A sparkling and poetic pop-up book, bursting across the sylvan Hill stage, propelled by magic, romance and the very best kind of mischief. This merry chase is led by a delightful pair of Pucks, as humankind and fairykind alike head to the woods in search of their best selves. And we do the same. Because Midsummer is, above all, a celebration of humanity at its finest; a playground for actors and audience alike. Bring your kids, your kin, your fun-loving friends. This story was built to be experienced alongside your favorite people, beneath a vast and star-strewn sky. Partake, and be merry.

If our small slice of the woods had a soulmate play, it would be A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And though we truthfully adore all the stories we share on our stages, there’s a sort of magic to Midsummer that has enchanted us and this beautiful setting for 46 years and counting.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream holds the special distinction of being the very first production staged at the brand-new American Players Theatre in 1980. Since then, more than 11 productions and tours of the play have been brought to life by APT’s own merry bunch of mechanicals, making it the most produced play in our theatrical repertoire (followed by The Comedy of Errors at 10 productions). For many, Midsummer has acted as an introduction to the world of Shakespeare’s work, and (to a much more humble extent) APT. Just check out the audience responses we collected this summer. It’s a play that holds a special place in the hearts of many who have journeyed up the Hill over the last four decades.

Shakespeare wrote Midsummer between 1594-1596, falling between Love’s Labour’s Lost and Romeo and Juliet. We know that Shakespeare found inspiration for elements of his play in the work of the ancient Roman poet Ovid (born 43 BC), pulling the play-within-a-play of Pyramus and Thisbe from the fourth book of Ovid’s influential Metamorphoses. The mythological rules and attitudes of Midsummer were also somewhat known by the public by the time of the play’s official publication in 1600. Puck - aka Robin Goodfellow, aka Hob, aka Hobgolbin (but what’s in a name?) - already had some clout as a fairy celebrity with Elizabethan audiences. In fact, public opinion on fairies had only somewhat recently transformed from the medieval perspective of demonic entities to more mischievous, playful spirits.

And speaking of those playful spirits, what a team we have assembled for this extraordinary production. Joshua Castille (Romeo in 2023’s acclaimed production of Romeo & Juliet) and Casey Hockstra (Constellations, 2024) pack a double punch, splitting the fantastical fairy role of Puck and Robin Goodfellow in this multidimensional, magical interpretation. Shortly after finishing the outdoor season last fall, Joshua and Casey workshopped the part with director and resident-imagination-expert David Daniel, making strides in bringing this inventive performance to life.

Whether this production of Midsummer marks your twelfth trip to the forest with APT for your very first, please join us in the merriment and magic that is this poetic, funny, transformative play, staged in our very own wonderland.