University of Southern Indiana Theatre will continue its 2019-2020 season with the classic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written by William Shakespeare and directed by Elliot Wasserman, USI professor of theatre. The production runs from November 14-17, 2019 in the USI Performance Center located in UC east on USI’s campus.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the first play by Shakespeare to be produced at the USI Performance Center since it opened in 2015. Wasserman has added a unique touch to the production by setting the play in a Victorian era and dressing the fairies in steampunk style, their clothing a mixture of outmoded, silly tech and fanciful touches.
“They serve as a metaphor to love, because love is an inexplicable phenomenon. Shakespeare suggests that fairies can drive it forward, arrange it, rearrange it, and bless it,†said Wasserman. “In a rule-oriented world that does little to account for or allow for love, invisible forces foster love, not social rules. Hence, we have fairies, and as a world in relationship to the Victorian one, the steampunk style, which is a fanciful modification of the Victorian, is the choice.â€
Wasserman will be joined by a design team including USI faculty member Paul Weimer as scenic designer; USI staff member Joshua Stallings as sound designer; USI staff member Shan Jensen as costume designer; USI staff member Andy Hammond as technical designer; USI faculty member Maya Michele Fein as lighting designer; and USI student Ashtyn Cornett as production stage manager.
The cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream includes USI students Cole Brinker, Easton Crisp, Brandon Douglas, Carlysle Dante Marie Garland, Jason Merslich, Jada Alexia Hampton, Elijah C. Young, Amelia Schmitz, Rafael Gonzalez, Allen Harbold, Perci Hale, Trevor Maxey, Brennen Hobson, Nathaniel Robles, Nate Jenkins, Hadin Hart, Daniel Moser, Shayna Survil, Evelyn Pigman, Kierstin Prewitt, and Kirsten Rude.
Tickets are $2 for USI students, $10 for USI employees, $4 for non-USI students (student ID required), $10 seniors (60+), and $12 for adults. Tickets are FREE to USI students with ID one hour before the show begins based on availability. Shows start at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. for the Sunday matinee. To purchase tickets or for more information visit USI.edu/liberal-arts/usi-theatreor call the box office at 812-465-1635. Follow us on Facebook at USITheatre and NewHarmonyTheatre, Twitter @TheatreUSI, and Instagram @USI_theatre for updates and photos.
Tickets are also now on sale for the rest of the 2019-20 season. Join us for Brighton Beach Memoirs, the 2020 Repertory Project co-produced by USI Theatre and New Harmony Theatre, running from February 13-16, 2020. Brighton Beach Memoirs will feature professional Equity actors and stage management. The second spring show will be Eclipsed, directed by USI student Jesmelia Williams and running March 26-28, 2020 in the Mallette Studio Theatre. The final production of the season will be Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Altheide and running from April 16-19, 2020. For more information on the remainder of the USI Theatre season, visit USI.edu/liberal-arts/usi-theatre or call 812-465-1635.
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