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HASTINGS — Hastings Community Theatre opens its 65th season with Shakespeare’s enchanting comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Amidst the moonlit revelry and bewitching antics, Shakespeare crafts a timeless tale of love, magic and the transformative power of dreams.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is William Shakespeare’s first comic masterpiece and remains one his most beloved and performed plays. It seems reasonable to claim that on any fine night during the summer at an outdoor theater somewhere in the world an audience is being treated to the magic of the play.
When star-crossed lovers sneak away in the night, they find themselves in a forest populated by feuding fairies and would-be thespians on the eve of the Crown Prince’s marriage to his captured bride. Find out “what fools these mortals be” when the three worlds collide.
HCT presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Friday, Saturday and Sunday on September 13, 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22. Performances on Fridays and Saturdays are at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2:30pm. Hastings Community Theatre is located in the Good Samaritan Village, 515 S. 4th Ave, Hastings. Tickets are $25 for adults and $22 for seniors/students. Tickets are available online at www.hctheatre.org. Tickets will also be available at the door on performance nights until sold out.
HCT’s company of lovers, fairies and thespians includes Adam Vander Veer and Katrina Hamel doubling as the two most contentious couples, Theseus and Hippolyta and Oberon and Titania, with the young lovers portrayed by Morgan O’Neill as Helena, Dustin Velasquez as Demetrius, Jessica Brock as Hermia and Vic Ashby as Lysander. Desiree Clement plays the mischievous prankster Puck. The hilarious and sometimes rude mechanicals include Jackson Dittmer as Nick Bottom, the weaver, and Sue Medsker, Nick Bartos, Sarah Wolf, Amy Smallcomb and Eliana Hogan. Titania’s raucous fairy court contains HCT KIDS alumni Mandolin Koehler, Hannah Javins, Gianna Rosno, Gracelyn Larsen, Brint Christensen and Alexzia Eckhardt, while the ensemble is rounded out by Vivian Mendoza as Egea and Erica Rogers as Philostrata.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream continues to enthrall audiences with its enduring themes and enchanting characters,” remarks Ruth Nielsen, director. “Each member of this ensemble has contributed to crafting humorous and engaging portrayals of their characters, adding to the enduring magic of this production.”
