Have you ever had a crush that just didn’t like you back? What about a crush that didn’t like you but liked your best friend?
What if a magic creature, maybe a fairy for example, came along and used their supernatural powers to make your crush like you back? Plenty of people have thought of this, and many, perhaps, have even wished for it, but it has only come true for one girl: Helena.
Helena, of course, is fictional. Her story pans out in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
This fall, Northwood’s theatre department brought this drama to life.
In the play, Helena, played by junior Chantal Shine, is a part of a group of four characters called the Lovers along with freshman Anna Butler, who played Hermia; junior Nikolai Mather, who played Lysander and sophomore Caleb James, who played Demetrius.
“[Demetrius is] a rather pompous standoffish jerk who is in love with a woman named Hermia who does not love him back,” James said.
Butler described Hermia, her character, as a “strong female character.”
“[Hermia] does not want to marry who her [mother] wants her to marry,” Butler said. “She wants to marry Lysander, not Demetrius.”
Later, fairies, who live in a magical forest, intervene with the four lovers by giving them potions, which creates new problems.
The play was nothing like a typical Shakespeare play. Kayla Sharp, Northwood’s theatre teacher and the play’s director, said the play’s concept was 1920s-themed.
“In the beginning, when [the play was] staged in Athens, [the set was] black and white like old black and white movies [from] the 1920s,” said junior Elizabeth McKnight, who played Egea in the play and was a part of the tech crew. “Then, every time a character [went] to the magical world of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, color [was] introduced, like maybe a flower on the guy’s jacket or pink lighting or something.”
Junior Kendra Moon, who played Hippolyta, said the characters were dressed in outfits depicting “flappers and higher-class people.”
The Mechanicals, another group of characters in the play, were influenced by a specific group: the Marx Brothers, a family comedy act that was popular in the 1920s.
“She has tied characters from the play [to the Brothers’] personalities,” said senior Aggie Puckett, who played Snout. “Certain [character’s personalities] line up with the personalities of a certain Marx Brother.”
Many cast members are having a hard time getting a grasp of their characters’ personalities because of the Shakespearean language. This is especially true for freshmen since they generally have less experience. Sharp herself acknowledged the difficulty of Shakespeare and praised the freshmen for giving it a try.
“I’m excited that so many people put their faith in the theatre department and said, ‘Okay, it’s Shakespeare. I’m going to try, even though I’ve never done anything at Northwood before,’” Sharp said.
Senior Jordan Pollard, who plays Titania, the queen of the fairies, also expressed a positive attitude toward the freshmen.
“I think [having a lot of freshmen on the cast] is awesome,” Pollard said. “[In the past it has been] mostly veterans or, if there are freshmen, [then] they play a lot of small roles… but this year we have freshmen in the leads. I’ve never liked the stigma against freshmen as a general population. When you have freshmen in such a tight-knit group that becomes like a family at the end of the production, it allows them to get comfortable with upperclassmen and it destroys the stigma.”
Butler also mentioned how much the group has bonded and her nerves coming in as a freshman.
“I was super nervous coming into it,” Butler said. “[I was] like, ‘I’m going to be new, and everyone’s going to [already] be like [a] big family,’ and it is like a family, but I’m included in this family. It’s really fun [and] just a great atmosphere.”
Pollard even went on to encourage more underclassmen to join the theatre department.
“The theatre department has become a second home for me,” Pollard said. It’s probably [been] the highlight of my… four years, and that’s really saying something. To any, especially freshmen and sophomores—I cannot implore you more—try out. Even if you have stage fright, even if you don’t think you’ll get in, try out for a play or a musical. It is an eye-opening experience and [it has] changed me.”
– By Jasmine Wilkie