“Midsummer Night’s Dream” Set in New York City, Staged By Nyack High School Drama Club

Four-star review!!

BY GEORGE J. DACRE

William Shakespeare’s classic comedy “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596, got the director Joseph J. Egan treatment at Nyack High School and their Drama Club. The players come through brilliantly portraying the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus and Hipolyta, Queen of the Amazons. It includes the adventures of four young lovers and a group of six amateur actors (mechanicals), who inhabit the forest in which the play is set. The stage crew created an urban forest of bridges, trusses and records.

“Dream” starts on a subway at Nyack High School’s auditorium and the tale morphs into our urban world of New York City with denizens, rock stars and mysterious sprites. There is even use of a cellphone during the play and a bicycle.

With a great taped orchestration and very good talent on stage, drawn from the ranks of the Drama Club, “Dream” is a fine professional high school production. It has a very involved plot with Hermia (Sidney Ahearne) in love with Lysander (Peter Dailey) and fighting her father’s wish that she marry Demetrius (Noah DiRenzo), who is loved by Helena (Melanie Logan).

Then there is a plan by Peter Quince, leader of the Mechanicals (Yonnie Jones), to put on a play for the wedding of the Duke of Athens (Olivia Olsen) and the Queen of the Amazons (Yasmyn Osman). Hermia and Lysander escape to the forest and the mechanicals break everyone up with their so called play that is just hilarious.

And on top of that a very amusing side plot progresses, with fairies coming to the forest outside Athens. The unforgettable Puck plays the muse to King of the Fairies Oberon, who puts a curse on his his wife Titania, causing her to fall in love with a donkey-man. Needless to say, Titania had been getting under Oberon’s skin.

There is much more to “Dream” and you will wonder if it was all a dream of William Shakespeare. I rate this production by the Nyack High School Drama Club Four Stars out of Four!

Coming in March “The Music Man.”