Young Actors Take on Dream Roles
The setting is a magical forest where young lovers, a bumbling band of would-be actors, fairies and other mythical creatures cross paths. Almost everyone has the best of intentions, but somehow things get delightfully out of hand when the student-training production of A Midsummer Night's Dream opens at Tulane on Wednesday (Aug. 3).
On stage for A Midsummer Night's Dream will be, from left, Patrick Bowen as Lysander, Margaret Deveer as Hermia, Dean Wray as Demetrius, and Holly Settoon as Helena. (Photo by John B. Barrois)
The New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane is presenting the All Things Shakespeare student-training production for six performances in the Lupin Theater on the uptown campus.
All Things Shakespeare is a summer training program for experienced young actors interested in studying and performing Shakespeare, under the instruction of professional theater artists. Each summer, the program offers conservatory training in voice, text study, movement, stage combat and other aspects of the craft of acting with a focus on the works of William Shakespeare. The season ends with the students producing a full-scale production of one of the Bard's plays.
In this production, the trees of Shakespeare's forest are covered with flowers made entirely of recycled plastic bottles, a concept that supports both the magical atmosphere of the play and the environmental needs of the planet.
Students attending All Things Shakespeare are from the following schools: Academy of the Sacred Heart, Benjamin Franklin High, Christ Episcopal School, Destrehan High, Emerson College, Lusher Charter High, Glenalond College of Perth, Scotland, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Pontchartrain High, St. Martin's Episcopal and Tulane University.
Performances are scheduled on Wednesday through Saturday (Aug. 3â“6) at 7:30 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 6â“7) at 1:30 p.m.
Tickets are available at the Lupin Theater Box Office, on Tuesday through Friday, from noon until 4 p.m. Tickets also are available by phone at 504-865-5106 or email.
