In Athens, a prophecy states that three weddings will bring harmony to the nation. After years of war and pillage, Theseus – the lion of legend - has returned victorious with his opponent, the Amazon queen Hippolyta, in bondage. Discord in the lands has multiplied, as emanations from the forest surrounding the cities rip into the natural order of seasons. Upon pain of death, the daughter of former king Aegeus has defied royal decree and her own betrothed and encouraged the love of a lieutenant of Theseus, the naval hero Lysander.

As the citizens of Athens dream of answers, of a better life, the forest depths beckon to all; their strange energies twisting up and into the city, planting desires, desperate hope; magic promises of questionable substance…

“It is amazing how Shakespeare’s legacy is so often crafted in our minds as a result of productions of his plays that we have seen and not as a personal examination of the script,” begins John Beane, director of the production.

“A Midsummer Night's Dream is not a comedy per se. This is a tale in four interweaving threads that all deal with comedy, yes, but equally with sex, betrayal, love - and indeed some of the darkest forces man can generate.”

“Every tragedy that he wrote contains humor, every comedy contains pathos and toil. That seems to be a unifying trait of genius in the arts. The fact is that if you think about Shakespeare’s couples throughout his plays – especially the comedies - with even a tenth of the subtlety that Shakespeare exhibited in writing them, you cannot reasonably expect that they all end well. Throughout the canon we have one relationship after another based in lies, magical possession, trickery, property dealings...manipulations galore.”

“The task we set in this production then has been to come at the script unbiased by our ideas of what the play should be, or even of what a bold interpretation should be – but to just discover these characters there. What we find is what we find in life (and all great works); that moments of huge magic, the grandest gestures, can have their origins in the petty or mundane…and that the most unassuming glance between lovers can contain within it a power to rival any force from a fairy kingdom.”