'A Midsummer Night's Dream' comes to BYU

Planning a date? Instead of hitting a movie for the latest romantic comedy, you may want to check out "A Midsummer Night's Dream": Shakespeare's version of the same written during 16th century England.

Starting Friday, the BYU Department of Theatre and Media Arts, which performs one Shakespeare play annually, will be presenting "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which is set in the colorful venue of South America.

BYU theater professor and play director Megan Jones expounded on the unique setting the play will be present.

"Modern directors today that put on Shakespeare have the freedom to envision new and different ways of setting it, casting it and presenting it to a modern audience," Jones said. "We're setting our 'Midsummer Night's Dream' in a mystical South America in the 19th century. And so we have a lot of influences from Brazilian carnival and capoeira dancing."

Despite the deviation in the play's traditional location of ancient Athens, the plot of the play is the same and very much still traditional Shakespeare -- verbose language included. The play revolves around the plights of four young Athenian lovers involved in a love quadrangle (sounds tricky), the wedding of a duke and queen (how romantic), and a performing group of arrogant amateur actors (very funny). To add to this, the plots of all three take place in an enchanted forest with magical fairies.

The fairies, in this version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," will represent and bring to life the South American angle in the play. Brouge Morgan, BYU senior and theater major, plays the unofficial fairy leader, Peaseblossom, in the fairy queen's entourage.

Morgan succinctly explained what purpose the fairies serve in the play: "Mostly we are simply there to do the queen's bidding and to look awesome."

The contrast between the costumes of the Elizabethan actors and the fantastical woodland fairies is designed to show the conflict and unlikely union between two different cultures.

"The world of the fairies is a very fluid, bright, colorful, feathers movement and music world," Jones said. "Whereas in the world of the Athenians, they all dress in white, the whole set is white, they only move in straight lines, and it's a very organized world."

If you're interested in seeing BYU's version of this classic but feel daunted by the prospect of understanding Shakespeare's ample use of the English language, fear not. The cast hopes to portray the play in a way that will hold interest for all.

"This play has a lot of spectacle, which is appealing to just about everyone," Morgan said. "Our set is fantastic, and the costume and makeup design is also thrilling. Above all, the acting is phenomenal."