Miami University Theatre Department will run its production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Lewis Magruder, April 30 to May 4.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a Shakespearean play that brings both challenges and new freedoms for actors in the show, said sophomore theater and linguistics student Julia Jackett, who plays Titania. As the show is written in old English, it can create some challenges in the way that the actors learn to speak. However, the show also allows for actors to have more freedom to make their own creative choices in regards to their characters.
For senior theater student Tod Fish who plays the role of Nick Bottom, the show was intimidating but proved to bring a sense of ease to actors.
“It’s my first time doing Shakespeare and so it was honestly pretty daunting at the beginning of the process, but Shakespeare really takes care of you in a lot of ways,” Fish said. “He gives you sort of a roadmap of how the characters interact and and what things mean…it gives you a lot of freedom to put in some of your own, own choices and own flavors to things.”
According to Miami’s Theatre Department website, the department aims to share students’ stories through the work they do in the theater. They want to allow students to explore personal growth through many different mediums such as theater and dance.
Miami’s Theatre Department has many different roles in their productions, some more challenging than others. For the production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Jackett says her role of Titania has been a slight challenge for her during the show.
“The biggest challenge for me is just specifically the role of Titania,” Jackett said. “She’s a leader. She’s the queen of the fairies, and she’s sort of this very strong and passionate leader… and taking on a role like that was sort of a challenge for me in some ways, just because it wasn’t the type of role that I normally see myself in.”
Outside of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the Theatre Department tries to set students up for success when they go and start their career. Whether it be through connections from directors or different internships, students are able to find something after graduation that focuses on what students want within the field of theater.
“I have a job at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and so I am working as a teaching artist there for the summer,” said Fish. “Miami has really kind of given me a focus on a market that I’m really interested in and has given me opportunities throughout my four years to really interact with that market. And so now I feel like I have a decent foundation to start my career.”
Miami’s Theatre Department works throughout the entire school year to put on different productions. In the past, the Theatre department has put on shows such as “Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine’s,” “The Play that goes Wrong” and “Bright Star.” The Theatre Department creates a new production season for every school year, next year shows like “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Into the Woods” will be shown throughout the year.
“I feel very comfortable and very confident that the people that I have here, the support system with the theater department faculty, with my theater advisors and just all the professors in this department,” Jackett said. ”They will get me to where I need to be…We have a really great season coming up next year, and I’m not sure what I’ll audition for yet, but I’m definitely going to be involved in whatever way I can be.”
The show runs from 7:30 p.m. April 30 through May 3 and 2 p.m. May 4 at Gates Abegglen Theatre – Center for Performing Arts. Tickets range from $16 to $20 and can be purchased online at Miami’s theatre department website or by contacting Miami’s Box Office at 513-529-3200. Tickets will also be available at the door of the Performing Arts Center about an hour before the show starts.
