Novato Theatre's A CAJUN MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM to Bring Bayou Twist to Shakespeare

Novato Theatre Company is puckishly mischievous in transporting Shakespeare's classic A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM to Louisiana bayou country with its production of A CAJUN MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.

The chief mischief-maker is Adapter/Director Clay David who most recently worked his magic on the NTC production of Mary Roberts Rinehart's The Bat. Janelle Ponte is the Producer. A CAJUN MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM plays January 29 through February 21, 2016 at the NTC Playhouse, 5420 Nave Dr., Novato 94949.

A CAJUN MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is a hilarious adaptation of William Shakespeare's comedy that adds Cajun-French expressiveness, music, storytelling, voodoo, spiced with a love of good cooking and festivity, set amidst the wild semitropical bayou that suffuses all essential ingredients of this unique gumbo.

Set in 1954 along Bayou Tech near the Tabasco Plantation, this production utilizes Zydeco, honky-tonk and Cajun music on the Louisiana Hayride. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and Hippolyta. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors (the "rude mechanicals") who are controlled and manipulated by Voodoo swamp spirits who inhabit the bayou in which most of the play is set. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world.

Clay David (Director/Designer) is Artistic Director of the Altarena Playhouse. He has won the Theatre Bay Area TITAN Award winner for Excellence in Theatre, the Dean Goodman Best Director in San Francisco Bay, two time winner-Lee Hartgrave's FAME Best Play Award, and the BRAVO Award for Educational Excellence. He has served as theatre professor and lecturer at Loyola Marymount University, University of Connecticut, and Contra Costa College. He has performed and directed from Off-Broadway, national tours and regional theatre including The Blue Heron in NYC, The Jerry Rojo Environmental Theatre in CT, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse, The Autism Channel, and The New Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Last year, he directed NTC's hauntingly mysterious production of Mary Roberts Rinehart's The Bat.

CAST (with home cities):

Thésee, Duc d'Athènes, Louisiana - Paul Gusciora
Hippolyte, fiancée à Thésée - Sandi Rubay
Égée, père d'Hermia - Jeffrey Lee Taylor
Lysandre, , amoureux d' Hélène - Mark Swartz
Demetrius, amoureux d'Hermia - Johnny Mannibusan
Hermia, fille d'égée, amoureuse de Lysandre - Arden Kiltzer
Hélène, amoureuse de démétrius - Laine Flores
Madame Quince, théâtre directeur - Pennell Chapin
Nicole Bottom, tisserand - Marilyn Hughes
François Flute, marchand de soufflets - Sam Ethan Rubin
Tamsin Snout, chaudronnier - Ann Armour
Robin Starveling, tailleur - Renee Mandel-Sher
Snug, charpentier - John Nolan
Puck, Bayou Lutin de Gris Gris - Alison Sacha Ross
Oberon, Roi des fées, Bayou traiteur - Michael Walraven
Titania, Reine des fées, Bayou Voodoo - Sumi Narendran
Cajun et Bayou Ensemble - Shari Kwan Clover, Rhett Morden Martino, Sarah Catherine Geffen

THE CREW:

Producteur - Janelle Ponte
Directeur - Clay David
Regisseur (Stage Manager) - Isabelle Ponte
Scénographe, Artiste Scénique - Clay David
La Construction De Décors - Michael Walraven
Concepteur d'Éclairage (Lighting Designer) - Courtney Johnson
Assistant d'Éclairage - Caryn Martino
Costumière - Janice Deneau, Clay David
Assistant de Costumière - Marie Gurrola, Clara Lamers, Brenda Weidner
Perruques et Maquillage (Wigs and Makeup) - Clay David

CURTAIN TIMES AND TICKETS:

Venue: NTC Playhouse, 5420 Nave Dr., Novato

Preview: Thursday, January 28 at 7:30 pm

Opens: Friday, January 29 at 8:00 pm

Runs: Fridays and Saturdays: 8:00 pm; Sundays: 2:00 pm, through February 21, 2016

Running Time: One hour 45 minutes with intermission

Tickets: $27 Adults, $21 NTC Members and Subscribers, $24 Seniors/Students, $12 Children 12 and under, $15 Preview. Online ticketing at www.novatotheatercompany.org; call (415) 883-4498 for questions/information only. No credit cards accepted at the theater box office for walk ups, cash or checks only. Open Seating • Free Parking.

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