Confused lovers, overdramatic actors and mythical fairies will grace the stage of Talbot Auditorium this weekend for the Nicholls Players’ production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The traditional Shakespearean version will be performed tonight, March 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. and March 19 at 3 p.m.
Admission is $5 for students, $10 for the general public and $3 per student for groups of 10 or more students.
“The play is a story of misplaced love,” Stanley Coleman, assistant professor of speech and director, said. “People are in love with people who are not in love with them. The play traces the changes made by the fairy world to set everything in order again so that the right people are in love with each other”
Nicole St. Laurent, English education sophomore from Houma and stage manager, said the actors are “very dedicated.”
“The actors are great,” St. Laurent said. “They do a good job of portraying what’s going on so that audiences unfamiliar with Shakespeare will be able to tell what’s going on through their gestures.”
The main characters include: Hermia, played by Laura Templet, education sophomore from Raceland; Lysander, played by Joey Pierce, English education sophomore from Raceland; Helena, played by Elizabeth Holcomb, marketing senior from Morgan City; Demetrius, played by Joshua Stelly, freshman from Thibodaux; Puck, played by Jamie Allemand, freshman from Raceland; Oberon, played by Gregory Dawson II, culinary arts junior from Baton Rouge; Titania, played by Kristen Hebert, nursing senior from Morgan City; and Bottom, played by Christopher Wickwire, general studies senior from Concord, Mass.
This is the first Shakespearean play the Nicholls Players will perform in the seven years Coleman has been at Nicholls.
“I felt that this would be one of the easiest of Shakespeare shows to do because it’s a lot of fun,” Coleman said.
Besides college students, the cast also includes children, ranging from those not yet in school to some in elementary and high school.
“The kids have been the best part,” Coleman said. “We have students represented in all levels of education.”
Coleman said the entire play is centered around a set that resembles an old Greek temple that’s “a bit fallen and in ruins.”
Although Templet said that the play is time consuming, it is something that she loves.
“It’s so worth it,” Templet said.
Dawson said that he enjoys working with the cast.
“I am working with some very good actors and actresses who make it very easy for me to do my part,” Dawson said. “When they enjoy themselves, I can enjoy myself as well.
