A Midsummer Night's Dream
By William Shakespeare
Director: Merlyn Q. Sell
Assistant Director: Marissa Fosberg and Charlotte Grey
Sponsored by Black Hills Energy and Highmark Federal Credit Union
Performance Dates:
Friday, June 5th: Cohort Brewery in Hill City (chill outside with your favorite Cohort beer and a sandwich from Your Mom's Deli)
--Performers: Anna, Willa, Leah Anne
Saturday, June 6th: Robbinsdale Park (picnic shelter at the top of the hill)
--Performers: Jess, Leah Anne, Willa
Sunday, June 7th: Roosevelt Park
--Performers: Brady, Vienna, Charlotte
Friday, June 12th: Outside at The Dahl
--Performers: Brady, Willa, Delanee
Saturday, June 13th: Raider Park (across from Stevens High School)
--Performers: Jess, Vienna, Willa
Sunday, June 14th: Indoors at the Performing Arts Center
--Performers: Anna, Charlotte, Leah Anne
Times for all performances:
5:00pm: Games and activities for kids of all ages (even the grown up ones)!
Create your own magical flower - and maybe have it used in the play!
Play theatre games with actors
Learn a song and dance and be a part of the show!
5:40pm-Apprentice Company Preshow performance Begins
6pm: A Midsummer Night's Dream Begins
By William Shakespeare
Director: Merlyn Q. Sell
Assistant Director: Marissa Fosberg and Charlotte Grey
Sponsored by Black Hills Energy and Highmark Federal Credit Union
Performance Dates:
Friday, June 5th: Cohort Brewery in Hill City (chill outside with your favorite Cohort beer and a sandwich from Your Mom's Deli)
--Performers: Anna, Willa, Leah Anne
Saturday, June 6th: Robbinsdale Park (picnic shelter at the top of the hill)
--Performers: Jess, Leah Anne, Willa
Sunday, June 7th: Roosevelt Park
--Performers: Brady, Vienna, Charlotte
Friday, June 12th: Outside at The Dahl
--Performers: Brady, Willa, Delanee
Saturday, June 13th: Raider Park (across from Stevens High School)
--Performers: Jess, Vienna, Willa
Sunday, June 14th: Indoors at the Performing Arts Center
--Performers: Anna, Charlotte, Leah Anne
Times for all performances:
5:00pm: Games and activities for kids of all ages (even the grown up ones)!
Create your own magical flower - and maybe have it used in the play!
Play theatre games with actors
Learn a song and dance and be a part of the show!
5:40pm-Apprentice Company Preshow performance Begins
6pm: A Midsummer Night's Dream Begins
SHOW CAST:
Players:
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Anna Auchampach (Player) is excited to return to the summer stage this year! She has greatly enjoyed both performing and assistant directing in the summer Shakespeare performances these last few years. Anna is a performing arts enthusiast, USD graduate, and loves teaching with the Academy of Dance Arts. She is passionate about participating in the local theatre community both onstage and behind the scenes. Also, thanks for your support of our community theatre!
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Brady Jones (Player) happily returns to take part in the chaotic fun of the Summer Stage. Last summer's Adventures of Pericles was Brady's first performance with BHCT and he's since performed in the theatre's productions of Antigone and Stalag 17. When not frantically running around pretending to be a fictional character, Brady can be found at his full time job at the Rapid City Public Library.
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Jess Zemlicka (Player) has always loved theater, particularly when it challenges them, or gives them a chance to be silly. This play was a perfect combination of both, along with being the first time Jess has gotten a lead. They couldn't be more excited to share this performance with everyone and to be a part of the BHCT community.
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APPRENTICE COMPANY:
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Delanee Dame (Apprentice) is going to be a junior in high school. She works at Harley Davison during the rally and Stevens Sports Network during the school year. She was recently a part of The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Stevens High School and several other shows beforehand. In her free time she likes to sing, crochet, and relax. Delanee loves getting to share stories with others and hopes that those who come to A Midsummer Night's Dream enjoy the show as much as she enjoys telling it.
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Charlotte Grey (Assistant Director/Apprentice) has been acting since she was seven years old. She started performing with the Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre in Minnesota with her cousins. She got her first role with BCHT in the production of Beauty and the Beast. She was absolutely ecstatic to play the role of Chip the teacup. She was also in the performances of Average Family and Who's Tommy. Apart from theater, Charlotte enjoys playing violin, crocheting, wood carving, ballet, and watching movies with her siblings.
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Leah Anne Kjerstad (Apprentice) is so excited to be performing in her second BHCT Summer Stage! She will be a sophomore at Stevens High School in the coming year. During her freshman year, she acted in the fall play, was in props for One Acts, and was in the choir for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Leah Anne is a member of multiple choirs at Stevens. When not at school she enjoys reading and playing with her dogs and sugar glider.
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Willa Lecy (Apprentice) Going into 10th grade, Willa Lecy has been involved in theater for five years and has recently appeared in The Importance of Being Earnest at Stevens High School. She also has gained experience as part of the backstage crew. She is especially excited to return to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, since it was the first show she ever participated in. She enjoys both performing and working behind-the-scenes and hopes you enjoy the show as much as she has enjoyed being part of it.
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Vienna Waby (Apprentice) is so excited to be a part of her first Summer Stage production with BHCT. Vienna is entering her junior year at Stevens High School. She has recently performed in The Hunchback of Notre Dame at SHS, and The SpongeBob Musical with BHCT. She has also been in Fame, School of Rock, and Matilda. She has also been dancing at Academy of Dance Arts for 11 years. She hopes you enjoy this hilarious Shakespearean show!
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ARTISTIC STAFF
Marissa Fosberg (Assistant Director) is a recent graduate of Douglas High School who is about to attend college for theater in New York. The opportunity to assistant direct this show has been exciting, as it was a production of Midsummer that inspired her to want to become an actress. She is so thankful for how God has blessed her.
Kylie Halstead (Stage Manager) This is Kylie's first show with Black Hills Community Theatre, but she has been in over 20 productions in the Wyoming and Iowa areas. This will be her first time as a stage manager. Kylie will be a sophomore at Black Hills State University in the fall, majoring in Special Education. She is very excited to be moving back into the Black Hills area. Outside of theatre Kylie enjoys reading, riding her bike, and spending time with family and friends.
Ryan Puffer (Understudy) has worked as an actor, stage manager, director and teaching artist for companies in South Dakota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Ryan is the Development and Marketing Manager for BHCT, where he has also stage managed and directed several shows. Ryan is back onstage after previously appearing in Annie, Beauty and the Beast, Macbeth, Sister Act, The Addams Family, Love’s Labour’s Lost, One Man, Two Guvnors, Cabaret and The SpongeBob Musical.
Merlyn Q. Sell (Director/Understudy) is BHCT's Artistic Director and an all-around good egg.
Morgan Wilson (Apprentice Company Director) is the Education & Outreach Director at BHCT and is thrilled to be working on this year's summer stage production. Morgan just finished her first season directing the Cherry Street Players youth theatre program with Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical this April and a double header this past fall with 10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse and Everyone Gets Eaten by Sharks. You may have also seen her most recently as Rizzo in Grease at Seraphim Theatre last month. If you'd like more information about BHCT's youth theatre program, email Morgan: [email protected]!
Kylie Halstead (Stage Manager) This is Kylie's first show with Black Hills Community Theatre, but she has been in over 20 productions in the Wyoming and Iowa areas. This will be her first time as a stage manager. Kylie will be a sophomore at Black Hills State University in the fall, majoring in Special Education. She is very excited to be moving back into the Black Hills area. Outside of theatre Kylie enjoys reading, riding her bike, and spending time with family and friends.
Ryan Puffer (Understudy) has worked as an actor, stage manager, director and teaching artist for companies in South Dakota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Ryan is the Development and Marketing Manager for BHCT, where he has also stage managed and directed several shows. Ryan is back onstage after previously appearing in Annie, Beauty and the Beast, Macbeth, Sister Act, The Addams Family, Love’s Labour’s Lost, One Man, Two Guvnors, Cabaret and The SpongeBob Musical.
Merlyn Q. Sell (Director/Understudy) is BHCT's Artistic Director and an all-around good egg.
Morgan Wilson (Apprentice Company Director) is the Education & Outreach Director at BHCT and is thrilled to be working on this year's summer stage production. Morgan just finished her first season directing the Cherry Street Players youth theatre program with Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical this April and a double header this past fall with 10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse and Everyone Gets Eaten by Sharks. You may have also seen her most recently as Rizzo in Grease at Seraphim Theatre last month. If you'd like more information about BHCT's youth theatre program, email Morgan: [email protected]!
SPECIAL THANKS!
Lindsey Myers & Rapid City Parks Department
Parents of the Apprentice Company,
Jacque & Jacque Sell,
Abby Simmons, Rodger Hartley,
Cristian Vargas Ordòñez, and SDSMT Mechanical Engineering Capstone Students,
The BHCT Board of Directors
Parents of the Apprentice Company,
Jacque & Jacque Sell,
Abby Simmons, Rodger Hartley,
Cristian Vargas Ordòñez, and SDSMT Mechanical Engineering Capstone Students,
The BHCT Board of Directors
Enjoyed the show? Consider making a donation to BHCT!
Show Synopsis:
As Duke Theseus prepares for his marriage to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, he is interrupted by a courtier, Egeus. Egeus asks for the Duke to intervene in a dispute. His daughter, Hermia, will not agree to marry Demetrius (whom Egeus has chosen for her) because she loves a gentleman named Lysander. The Duke asks Hermia to be obedient to her father. He offers her one of two options: she must either die or accept a celibate life as a nun in Diana's temple. Naturally upset with the offer, Lysander and Hermia plan to elope and share their secret with Helena, Hermia's friend. Helena is desperately in love with Demetrius, who seems to have abandoned her in favour of Hermia. At night, Lysander and Hermia escape from Athens; but they soon lose their way in the woods. After Helena tells him of their intention to defy the law, Demetrius decides to follow the lovers into the woods. In turn, Helena follows Demetrius in the hope that he will give up on Hermia and choose her instead.
Meanwhile, a group of working men are preparing a play of the tragic love-story of Pyramus and Thisbe to present before the Duke Theseus on his wedding day. Nick Bottom, the weaver, is to play the lover Pyramus, while Flute, the bellows-mender, begrudgingly agrees to play Thisbe.
Nearby, Oberon - King of the Fairies—has recently quarrelled with his queen, Titania. She acquired a magical child from one of her waiting women, and now refuses to hand him over to Oberon to use as a page. Oberon begins to plot a way to get revenge on Titania for her disobedience. He sends his fairy servant, Puck, to fetch a purple flower with juice that makes people fall in love with the next creature they see.
Afterwards, Oberon overhears Helena and Demetrius arguing in the forest. Oberon hears Demetrius mistreat Helena and tells Puck to anoint 'the Athenian', so Demetrius will fall in love with the first person that he sees. Puck mistakes the Athenian and puts the flower juice on the eyes of the sleeping Lysander. When he is woken by Helena, he immediately falls in love with her and rejects Hermia. When Demetrius rests, Oberon puts magic juice on his eyes, which makes him fall in love with Helena as well.
The workers' rehearsals in the wood are overheard by Puck, who plays a trick on them by giving Bottom an ass's head. After frightening the others away, Bottom is lured towards the sleeping Titania whom Oberon has anointed with Puck's magic flower juice. On waking, the fairy queen falls in love with the ass and entertains him with her fairies.
Meanwhile, Demetrius and Lysander, still under the spell of the flower juice, pursue Helena. Hermia is jealous and confused about the lack of attention paid to her. Oberon and Puck watch the chaos, and Oberon commands Puck to put it right again. The lovers' arguments have tired them all out as they have chased one another through the woods. Puck eventually distracts the two men from their pursuit of Helena by impersonating their voices, and they get lost in the woods. The four lovers fall asleep, exhausted. Puck places restorative juice on Lysander's eyes.
After an afternoon of being pampered by Titania's fairies, Bottom falls asleep beside her. Oberon restores Titania's sight and wakes her (thank goodness). After expressing her dismay at the sight of Bottom, she reconciles with Oberon, and she ends up giving him the little Indian prince for his page. Bottom's ass head is removed, and he returns to the city to rejoin his friends as they prepare to perform their play. The lovers are woken by Theseus and Hippolyta's hunting party. Lysander sees Hermia and falls in love with her once again.
Happily reunited (Lysander with Hermia and Demetrius with Helena), they agree to share the Duke's wedding day. The play of 'Pyramus and Thisbe' is presented before the wedding guests. As the three couples retire to bed, Puck and the fairies return to bless the palace and its people.
Meanwhile, a group of working men are preparing a play of the tragic love-story of Pyramus and Thisbe to present before the Duke Theseus on his wedding day. Nick Bottom, the weaver, is to play the lover Pyramus, while Flute, the bellows-mender, begrudgingly agrees to play Thisbe.
Nearby, Oberon - King of the Fairies—has recently quarrelled with his queen, Titania. She acquired a magical child from one of her waiting women, and now refuses to hand him over to Oberon to use as a page. Oberon begins to plot a way to get revenge on Titania for her disobedience. He sends his fairy servant, Puck, to fetch a purple flower with juice that makes people fall in love with the next creature they see.
Afterwards, Oberon overhears Helena and Demetrius arguing in the forest. Oberon hears Demetrius mistreat Helena and tells Puck to anoint 'the Athenian', so Demetrius will fall in love with the first person that he sees. Puck mistakes the Athenian and puts the flower juice on the eyes of the sleeping Lysander. When he is woken by Helena, he immediately falls in love with her and rejects Hermia. When Demetrius rests, Oberon puts magic juice on his eyes, which makes him fall in love with Helena as well.
The workers' rehearsals in the wood are overheard by Puck, who plays a trick on them by giving Bottom an ass's head. After frightening the others away, Bottom is lured towards the sleeping Titania whom Oberon has anointed with Puck's magic flower juice. On waking, the fairy queen falls in love with the ass and entertains him with her fairies.
Meanwhile, Demetrius and Lysander, still under the spell of the flower juice, pursue Helena. Hermia is jealous and confused about the lack of attention paid to her. Oberon and Puck watch the chaos, and Oberon commands Puck to put it right again. The lovers' arguments have tired them all out as they have chased one another through the woods. Puck eventually distracts the two men from their pursuit of Helena by impersonating their voices, and they get lost in the woods. The four lovers fall asleep, exhausted. Puck places restorative juice on Lysander's eyes.
After an afternoon of being pampered by Titania's fairies, Bottom falls asleep beside her. Oberon restores Titania's sight and wakes her (thank goodness). After expressing her dismay at the sight of Bottom, she reconciles with Oberon, and she ends up giving him the little Indian prince for his page. Bottom's ass head is removed, and he returns to the city to rejoin his friends as they prepare to perform their play. The lovers are woken by Theseus and Hippolyta's hunting party. Lysander sees Hermia and falls in love with her once again.
Happily reunited (Lysander with Hermia and Demetrius with Helena), they agree to share the Duke's wedding day. The play of 'Pyramus and Thisbe' is presented before the wedding guests. As the three couples retire to bed, Puck and the fairies return to bless the palace and its people.