Orlando Shakespeare Theatre Presents A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, 1/26-3/19

Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF continues its 2010-2011 Season with Shakespeare's romantic and hilarious comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, playing at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center from January 26 - March 19, 2011.

Directed by Orlando Shakes resident artist David Lee, A Midsummer Night's Dream features Broadway Veteran Wynn Harmon (Porgy and Bess) as Oberon/Theseus, and Sarah Ireland, last seen at Orlando Shakes in Wittenberg, as Titania/Hippolyta.  Cast as the lovers, Avery Clark will play Lysander and Michele Vazquez as Hermia, Walter Kmiec as Demetrius and Courtney Moors as Helena. Claro Austria will take the role of the mischievous Puck, and Michael Daly will play the foolish Bottom.

Orlando Shakespeare Theater's inventive production of A Midsummer Night's Dream takes a very modern turn, creating a world that is both magical and phantasmagorical. "A Midsummer Night's Dream celebrates the alchemical power of love and the transmogrification of the human heart," said director David Lee. "I wanted to unleash a production for Orlando Shakes audiences that is as fantastical as it is funny and as delightful as it is meta-theatrical! It is my hope that this show will celebrate the magic that takes place in the forest of our dreams."

Contributing to the fantastical environment, the creative team includes David Lee, director; Bob Phillips, scenic designer; Eric T. Haugen, lighting designer; Denise Warner, costume coordinator; and Matthew Given, sound designer.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is part of Orlando Shakespeare Theater's Darden Signature Series which continues on February 9 in repertory with an engaging adaptation of Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice, followed by Charlie Bethel's one-man rendition of Beowulf, the Theater for Young Audiences production of Alexander, Who's Not...Going to Move and closing in April 2011 with the Florida premiere of Charm.