Skidmore College Department of Theater Presents A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, Beginning Today

The Skidmore College Department of Theater has announced its Fall 2012 mainstage production, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM by William Shakespeare, directed by Doug Seldin. Performances are tonight, November 16-18 and November 29-December 2. All shows are in the Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Theater at 8:00pm except Sunday matinees at 2:00pm.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, but the play is much more than a light, exuberant farce. Mortals, mechanicals, fairies and enchanted lovers combine to fill this Shakespearean favorite with humor, magic and erotic love. Four lovelorn young people encounter quarrelsome fairy royalty in magicAl Woods. Add to this a troupe of travelling amateur actors and a bit of fairy dust and the result is cosmically comic, playful, and dark.

From Director Doug Seldin: "All Shakespeare plays begin, or quickly reveal, a world in chaos and for the rest of the play the characters attempt to find their way out of that madness. In tragedies, balance is restored through death and downfall, while comedies find resolution through union (often in the form of marriage) and the creation of new life. So the questions became: what is the chaos? What is off-balanced about this Athenian world?

Through our rehearsal process, a company of exceptional Skidmore actors and designers play within the whole of the human experience, from the pits of despair to the highest peaks of joy and back again, with the hope of creating a story that allows both love and reason to finally find their way into harmony."

For reservations, call the Skidmore Theater Box Office at (518) 580-5439 or email boxoffice@skidmore.edu. Tickets are $12 general admission and $8 for students and senior citizens. For group sales, contact Kathy Mendenhall at (518) 580-5431 or kmendenh@skidmore.edu.