What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs, and makes a slinkity sound? A spring, With the vast majority of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” set in a forest, it’s a perfect play to perform among the towering oaks, elms and maple trees of Falls Park, director Clare Shaffer said.
“‘Midsummer’ is one of those shows that wants to be outside in the fresh air,” Shaffer said.
Shaffer’s staging of Shakespeare’s comedy runs May 21-June 21 in Falls Park, part of this summer’s Upstate Shakespeare Festival.
As always, admission is free, but donations are welcome.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” follows several intertwined groups of lovers, actors, and fairies as they wander through a magical forest near Athens.
Two young couples flee into the woods, where the fairy king and queen, Oberon and Titania, are quarreling, and the mischievous sprite Puck uses a magical flower that causes people to fall in love with the wrong person.
Meanwhile, a group of amateur actors rehearses a play for a royal wedding, leading to comic confusion when one actor is transformed to have the head of a donkey.
By the end, the enchantments are undone, the lovers are properly matched, and the play celebrates reconciliation, imagination, and the unpredictable nature of love.
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