This summer, New Stagers presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream as you’ve never seen it before.
Staying loyal to the original Shakespearean language, director Alice Collins reimagines the action of the classic tale unfurling within the setting of a reality TV dating show! The play will be performed from 10 - 13 July at Wimbledon Studio Theatre, with an approximate run time of 90 minutes.
Audition details:
Date: Sunday 17 March
Time: 14:00
Location: St Anne’s Church Hall, 182 St Ann's Hill, London SW18 2RS
Play synopsis:
Tonight…in Athens…
Theseus and Hippolyta, having put all their eggs in one basket and preparing to recouple, leave the rest of the Athenians to their drama. Oberon and Titania are fighting over their baby challenge, with Oberon behaving like a proper melt. Hermia, 2024’s nepo baby, wants to couple up with Lysander, but her famous father, Egeus, thinks it’ll be better for her image to couple up with Demetrius. Meanwhile, Helena’s sulking because she’s no one’s type on paper. And the rest of the lads? It is what it is: they just want to prepare for the talent show challenge.
Into this firepit of feelings and factions, the producers break their boundaries and introduce their brand of magic that will see more sparks fly than your typical return from Casa Amor.
Cast list
Theseus (m): the confident alpha male who has a lot of influence over the other contestants and, as a result, represents order. Reading to recouple with Hippolyta, he appears only at the beginning and end of the story, removed from the dreamlike events of the forest.
Hippolyta (f): A bombshell who’s entered the villa to couple up with Theseus.
Egeus (m) (voiceover): the B-list celebrity who’s not too happy about seeing his daughter on the reality show. He wants Hermia to couple up with Demetrius, who he thinks will be better for her career. Egeus’s severe insistence that Hermia respect his wishes places him squarely outside the whimsical dream realm of the forest. In this production, Egeus will be delivered via voiceover in a text message.
Lysander (m): He’s been grafting since he arrived, and his commitment to making Hermia tea every morning has paid off. Lysander’s relationship with Hermia invokes the theme of love’s difficulty: he cannot be with her openly because Egeus, her father, wishes her to couple up with Demetrius; when Lysander and Hermia run away into the forest, Lysander becomes the victim of misapplied magic and wakes up in love with Helena.
Demetrius (m): A handsome new addition who’s not afraid to step on anyone’s toes. Initially interested in Hermia and ultimately in love with Helena.
Hermia (f): this year’s nepo baby, daughter of Egeus, who’s ready to couple up with Lysander. As a result of the producers’ mischief with Oberon’s love potion, both Lysander and Demetrius suddenly fall in love with Helena. Self-conscious about her short stature, Hermia suspects that Helena has turned the men’s heads with her height. By morning, however, Puck has sorted matters out with the love potion, and Lysander’s love for Hermia is restored.
Helena (f): In love with Demetrius. Demetrius and Helena were once getting to know each other, but Hermia turned Demetrius’ head and he abandoned Helena. Lacking in self-confidence, Helena thinks that Demetrius and Lysander are mocking her when the fairies’ mischief causes them to fall in love with her.
Oberon (m): A proper melt, his fiery on/off relationship with Titania keeps the viewers interested. Oberon also has an illicit relationship with the producers and uses their power to benefit him in his struggle for Titania’s changeling boy.
Titania (f): She loves drama, and is open to getting to know other people despite her being coupled up with Oberon. Titania has a brief potion-induced passion with Bottom, whose head Puck has turned into an Ass.
Puck (m/f): Also known as Robin Goodfellow, Puck is a mischievous producer who delights in playing pranks to improve ratings. His antics are responsible for many of the complications that propel the plots: he mistakes the young Athenians, applying the love potion to Lysander instead of Demetrius, thereby causing chaos within the group of young lovers; he also transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass. Can be played male or female.
Peter Quince (m/f): leading the talent show challenge and preparing a play for Theseus’s recoupling ceremony. Quince is often shoved aside by the abundantly confident Bottom. During the play, Quince plays the Prologue.
Nick Bottom (m): overconfident mug who’s been chosen to play Pyramus in the play. Bottom is a self-confident mansplainer but frequently makes silly mistakes and misuses language. His simultaneous nonchalance about the beautiful Titania’s sudden love for him and unawareness of the fact that Puck has transformed his head into that of an ass mark the pinnacle of his foolish arrogance.
Francis Flute (m): plays Thisbe in the play. Forced to play a young girl in love, the bearded craftsman is determined to speak his lines in a high, squeaky voice.
Tom Snout (m/f): chosen to play Thisbe’s mother in the play. He ends up playing the part of Moonshine.
Snug (m/f): lovable idiot, plays Lion - he worries the Lion’s roaring will frighten the girls.
Robin Starveling (m/f): chosen to play Pyramus’s father in the play. He ends up playing the part of Wall, dividing the two lovers.
Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, Mustardseed (m/f): producers/stage managers. One producer has a significant speech - the other parts are, for the most part, silent. Can be played male or female.
Crew
In addition to the fairy/producer role, which will act as very visible stage management, we will be looking for the following crew members:
Sound designer/engineer
Set builders: the set will need to be easily transportable to a third-party venue and we will rely on projection and a few key pieces to represent the locations within the forest/reality TV villa.
Costume designer/sourcer
Photography and publicity support
Audition pieces
All audition pieces can be found here.
Key dates
Rehearsals
15 April - 7 July
Tuesdays: 20:00 - 22:15
Sundays: 16:00 - 20:00
Tech/Dress rehearsal
Monday 8 July
Show dates
10 - 13 July at 19:45
If you have any questions about the auditions, please contact the director, Alice Collins.