The Blue & White

by Jessica Leiva

A Midnight Summer’s Dream is a comedic play containing multiple subplots.  The  play’s main subplot involves the four lovers; Helena, Demetrius, Hermia, and Lysander.  The characters run away into the woods and encounter a few mischievous faires.

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This year, Stage Door 22 thought Shakespeare was the way to go with Methuen High’s 2022 fall play. The showtimes/dates were Thursday December 1st at 7:00PM, Friday December 2 at 7:00PM, and Saturday December 3 at 2:00PM and 7:00PM.  All shows were in the auditorium at Methuen High School. 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the first Shakespeare play Ms. Walsh, Ms. Varasconi, and the Stage Door staff have put on. Credit for the lead roles of Hermia, Helena, Demetrius, and Lysander go to: (in order) Seniors Ella MacLaren, Jenevieve Young, Brandon Bui, and Junior Riley Lyons.  

Though the plot may be confusing to those unfamiliar with Shakespeare, the story is very investing, especially with the set crew’s amazing job recreating Athens and the forest. Of all the props and details, the lowering vine, flower-covered swing, and a hand-made paper mache tree tied for first place in my opinion. The tree went through many trial and error phases but the final product brought everything on stage together.  And, who could forget the beautiful hanging swing.  The swing used in A Midsummer Night’s Dream added so much to every scene it was in. 

The students and locals that have seen the production offered lots of positive feedback.  

“I thought it was really good!” student, Olivia Clark, stated. “It was really funny.  It was also very accurate to the [play].”  Olivia attended the December 2nd show, and as the quote proves, she enjoyed the production.  

“It was really good.  It’s so Impressive how you guys did that by yourselves,” a local that attended the December 3rd show said, adding to the praise.