American Shakespeare Center Presents A Midsummer Night's Dream

About this event

As part of its 2019–20 national tour, the American Shakespeare Center (ASC) will perform Shakespeare’s delightful comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Thursday, February 13, at 7:30 p.m. at McVay Center for the Performing Arts at Principia College. C-Ville Weekly describes the show as full of “humor and wonder” with “spellbinding storytelling . . . perfect for children and adults alike.”

ASC’s production wades into a bayou of masked hobgoblins, enchanting nymphs, and imps who sing the blues. Featuring the oblivious Bottom, plucky Helena, and mischievous Puck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream boasts some of Shakespeare’s most beloved and iconic characters.

Every year, ASC assembles a diverse and dazzling collection of artists from all over the country for their national tour. The 2019–20 touring company includes ASC veterans Topher Embrey (whom audiences may remember as Dromio in The Comedy of Errors last year) as Bottom and Madeline Calais (known previously to tour audiences as Ismene in Antigone) as Puck as well as new ensemble members. These accomplished, young artists have been enthralling audiences all over the country with a fresh take on this old classic.

“Fans nationwide will love what we’ve done with this play,” says director Nathan Winkelstein. “ASC on Tour gives us the incredible opportunity to present this beloved Shakespeare classic with our own supernatural New Orleans twist.” Original music in the production, drawing inspiration from bluegrass to bebop to barbershop, sets the scene of the magical bayou. And ASC’s actor-musicians play live music before the show and during intermission, covering modern classics that riff on the themes of Shakespeare’s play.

ASC’s productions are intimate in scale yet epic in scope, utilizing Shakespeare’s staging conditions (universal lighting, minimal sets, character doubling, cross-gender casting, and live music) to blend the playwright’s stagecraft with a modern sensibility. This engaging approach to the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries led the UK’s Telegraph to call ASC “one of the most accomplished Shakespeare companies in the United States.”

This ASC on Tour season marks the company’s 31st annual tour since it began in 1988 as Shenandoah Shakespeare Express. In just over 30 years, the group has performed in 46 U.S. states, one U.S. territory, and six countries. Last year alone, they traveled over 15,000 miles, bringing the magic of the American Shakespeare Center to more than 16,000 patrons.

Don’t miss the enchanting work of these talented artists for their limited engagement—February 13 at 7:30 p.m.—at Principia College. Tickets for A Midsummer Night’s Dream are free, but must be reserved in advance.