“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at HVCC

Shakespeare and Company performed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on Thursday as a part of Hudson Valley’s Cultural Affairs program. The event took place at noon in the Maureen Stapleton Theater.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is Shakespeare’s humorous story of mixed up love and lovers, with fairies thrown in the mix, setting the scene. Seven actors performed the play and had the audience laughing throughout.

Shakespeare and Company has been visiting Hudson Valley for three years now and comes to work with the theater students on campus for a one week residency.

At the conclusion of the performance, the performers came out and sat on the edge of the stage to introduce them and to give a statement.

They then had a question and answer session with the audience. The last actor’s statement was “Love is a form of magic.”

This statement launched the discussion portion of the performance.

Hudson Valley students responded to the statement by saying that “hearts can be mended by love” and that one’s own “personal rules can be broken by the causes of love.”

One student said that love can transform people, much like the characters in the play, who were transformed by magic in both physical and emotional ways.

At the end of the discussion, students and parents in the audience began discussing another actor’s statement that said, “Parents always have their children’s best interests in mind.”

Students had mixed feelings, some agreeing with the statement, others saying that parents sometimes need to let their children learn on their own.

This tied in to the play’s own parental questions. The mother of one of the lovers attempts to sway her from her true love and attempts to force her to marry a wealthier duke.

The actress discussed the difficulty she had with approaching the character.

After the brief discussion, the actors opened the floor to any questions the audience had.

The first question came from a younger girl in the audience, who wanted to know if underneath the ladder the actors used throughout the play to jump off had a cushion underneath to keep the actors out of harm’s way.

The actors chuckled and reassured the young girl that there was no cushion underneath but they were all very safe.

They discussed the amount of practicing they do before a performance in order to make sure they are all kept safe.

The performers ended the session with the acknowledgement of how they put on the play and how involved they are in the process.

Normally the residency only brings six actors, but this year they brought seven to help with the physical demands of the performance. The company invited the audience back for a workshop later in the day.