Were you planning on buying tickets for the school play, but you missed your chance? Have no fear! explain it to you.
Egeus brings his rebellious daughter Hermia in front of the Duke. He wants her to marry Demetrius, but Hermia refuses, because she’s in love with Lysander. Hermia and Lysander plan to elope that night, and they confide in their friend Helena. However, Helena is secretly in love with Demetrius, so he tells him about Hermia’s plan. That night, all 4 of them set out into the forest. Meanwhile, a group of men led by Peter Quince is rehearsing their play for the night of the Duke and Duchesses wedding. Elsewhere in the forest, the fairy king and queen, Titania and Oberon, have been arguing. Oberon becomes so furious he decides to cast a spell on Titania. The spell causes someone to fall in love with the first person they see when they awake.
Oberon overhears Helena and Demetrius arguing in the forest, and the noise makes him even more angry. He sends his fairy servant, Puck, to cast the same spell on Demetrius. However, he accidentally casts a spell on Lysander instead. As you can imagine, this causes a load of problems for this love square.
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
— A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, ACT 3 SCENE 2
The men in the forest are still rehearsing their play, and Puck hears this going on. He decides to play a trick on the leading man, Nick Bottom, by giving him the head of a donkey. This scares all the other men, waking up Titania at the same time. As soon as she awakes, she falls in love with Nick Bottom, who is still a donkey. At this point, Oberon has cast the spell on both Lysander and Demetrius, causing them both to fall in love with Helena. Once he sees the chaos he has caused, he puts everything back to the way it was. The show ends with a triple wedding. The Duke and Duchess, Lysander and Hermia, and Helena and Demetrius. Peter Quince and his men present their play for the happy couples as well.
“The course of true love never did run smooth.”
— A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, ACT 1 SCENE 1
Want to buy tickets for Alden High School’s next show? Head over to https://www.aldenschools.org/boxoffice to buy tickets for The Addams Family, on February 8, 9, and 10.
