An innovative production of Shakepeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” presented by the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television opens Friday, March 4 at the school's Little Theater. The play, which features second- and third-year M.F.A. graduate acting students from the department of theater, is directed by visiting associate professor Ellen Lauren, a founding member and co-artistic director of New York’s acclaimed SITI Company.
Lauren’s interpretation of one of the Bard’s most popular comedies places the tale of lovers, fairies, royals and mechanicals in early 1930s California, harkening to a time when thousands migrated from the Dust Bowl states to find a new life. It was also a time of innovation and experimentation in Hollywood. For so many, hardship was alleviated by escaping into the dream-like world of movie theaters.
The theme of transformation runs through “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Lauren noted.
“It’s a complex play, one that deals with the profane and the divine, order and disorder, the romantic and the erotic,” she said. “It is a play that is always relevant, always needed however many times it is performed, for it continually reminds us of the transformative and restorative power of theater.”
Performances will take place March 4-5 and 8-12 at 8 p.m. On March 12, there will also be a 2 p.m. performance. Purchase tickets at www.tft.ucla.edu/theatertickets.
