Shakespeare in the City 2008
'A Midsummer's Night Dream'
'A Midsummer's Night Dream' is one of Shakespeare's most well-known and best-loved comedies.
It is the night of the departmental office party; Hermia, the daughter of the CEO, rejects the advances of high-powered yuppie Demetrius (her father's favourite) and sneaks back up to the deserted offices with her sweetheart Lysander. Their escape is betrayed by her friend Helena who has a crush on Demetrius and tells him where Hermia has gone.
At night, though, in the dark offices the spirits are awake; call them fairies, call them the mischief-makers, call them gremlins, call them what you will. They are the ones that crash your computer just before you save, that move your coffee cup so you knock it over your work, that hide your security card and readjust your chair! Oberon, the lord of the mainframe, and Titania, the lady of paper, are having a spat and the mortals are going to be caught in between.
Finally, into this realm stumble a group of IT support staff (the 'Rude Electricals') who, in order to shake off their antisocial image, have offered to perform a play as the highlight of the party. If only they could find somewhere to rehearse!
This production will have 16 parts in total (3 men, 3 women and 10 which can be played by either).
Characters
The Lovers
Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius & Helena are young white-collar workers, falling in and out of love at a drop of a hat. Dress is modern.
The Fairies
Oberon, Titania, Puck et al. are the capricious spirits of the office, who manifest as different aspects of their environment. Dress would be neutral but with touches/accessories that evoke different objects around the office. These characters would be integrated far more within the environment (Oberon as lord of the mainframe, for example, might make his first appearance on a screensaver).
The Mechanicals
become the Electricals, IT support staff who aspire to popularity and are way out of their depth. Dress is modern, but more casual than the lovers (t-shirts with cult logos etc.)
