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Love is in the air at Park Manor
» Elmira school prepares to stage William Shakespeare’s classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream
BY: VANESSA MOSS
As Park Manor Public School’s drama troupe put the finishing touches on William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream this week, director Ted Frey took on more roles than he bargained for.
While trying to round up actors for a scene, he also vetoed white socks worn with a black suit, made sure dress shirts were ironed and directed the stagehands about where to place the fake trees.
“Chaos,” was the word he uttered in passing to describe the atmosphere in the school gym a week before the curtain rises May 7 and 8.
This final crunch caps off eight months of work for Frey and his students, who have memorized the original script – minus some inappropriate sections – created the costumes and set, and learned two dance routines.
Now, the cast is busy practicing the flow on stage, especially the timing, since the play involves more than a dozen characters and 20 dancers, many of whom flutter all over the “forest” set.
The romantic comedy Frey chose for his group this year involves two couples – Hermia and Lysander and Helena and Demetrius – who are put under a spell by a fairy named Puck.
The four characters become confused and men start falling in love with the wrong women and vice versa.
Meanwhile, Oberon, the king of the fairies, magically forces his wife, Titania, to fall in love with Bottom, a craftsman whose head has been replaced with that of a donkey.
In the final scene, order is restored and the couples marry in a group wedding, leaving Puck to recite the final speech.
As of Tuesday, the actors were still a little confused about where to stand during the complicated scenes and their giggling and goofing off did not help the situation, said Jacob Arseneau, who plays Oberon and Theseus.
“Most of the time, everybody acts a little immature, but Mr. Frey tries to calm them. I’m usually the person that stands there thinking, ‘oh my goodness,’” he said. “It’s time to get past the child’s games: let’s get serious here. Wake up everybody.”
Dressed in a shirt, tie and white running shoes, Arseneau took rehearsals seriously this week, giving each scene his best.
Frey watched the students’ expressions carefully, making adjustments to their positioning and movements as they worked through the script.
Hermia, played by Alex Minor, wore the emotions of her troubled character on her face, generating a satisfied silence from Frey.
Holly Boyne, portraying Helena in a flowing, blue dress, looked slightly puzzled about where she should enter the stage, but Frey quickly helped out.
She said being part of the production has been challenging, especially the memorization, but worthwhile.
“The acting and everything behind it is really cool to see because I’ve never had that experience before, which is really fun.”
Another treat has been working with her fellow cast members, who enjoyed taking turns wearing the donkey head when Frey wasn’t looking.
Arseneau said he just hopes they get their antics out of the way before show time.