The Oswego Players are proud to announce the casts of two fantasy plays being presented together this spring. The audience of the Little Theatre on the Water will see a Shakespearian comedy and a dancing bear on the Frances Marion Brown Theatre stage. The first play being presented is a one-act version of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This will be the first time in the 87-year history of the Oswego Players that a Shakespeare play will be produced.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most popular and widely performed plays. It is set in Athens and consists of numerous subplots that revolve around the marriage of King Theseus and Queen Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict among four teenage Athenian lovers. Another follows a group of six amateur actors rehearsing the play they are to perform before the wedding. Both groups find themselves in a forest inhabited by fairies who manipulate them as part of their own domestic intrigue.
This production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, under the direction of Norman Berlin III, has a cast of 21 actors, and is full of new, wonderful local talent, with ages ranging from eight to over fifty. The cast includes the magnificent talents of: Chloe Hill as Puck, Scott Bandla as Oberon, Sarah Izzo as Titania, Andrea Brizzi as Lysander, Nolan Callahan as Demetrius, Cindy Robbins as Hermia, Shy Sims as Helena, Perci Mehling as Nick Bottom, Danielle Funiciello as Theseus, Christina Rogers as Hippolyta, Helena Treelins as Egeus, Camila Rodriguez as Peter Quince, Gus McDonald as Francis Flute, Charlie Thompson as Robin Starveling, Adrianna McGowan as Tom Snout, Max Loria as Sung, Mallory Gordon as First Fairy, Alex Wallace as Philostrate, Averyanna Wilson as Peaseblossom, Lilith Pape as Cobweb, Helen McDonald as Mustardseed and Abraham Patrick as Moth.
Midsummer is being presented along with a remount of last year’s sellout smash hit, The Arkansaw Bear, by Aurand Harris. The Arkansaw Bear is a moving 45-minute fantasy/drama in which a young girl must learn to deal with loss and how to let go of someone she loves. Director Berlin has chosen to pair the two works because of their similar fantastical elements.
Saddened and bewildered at her grandfather’s approaching death, Tish runs to her “special tree.” There, in a world of fantasy provided by her wish on a star, she meets the aforementioned dancing bear. She is old, like her grandfather, and is running away. In trying to help the Bear, Tish begins to understand the meaning of both life and death, which helps her to cope with her own sadness.
The Arkansaw Bear is an important work by America’s foremost playwright for young audiences, that blends realism and fantasy, pathos and humor. It is delightfully theatrical, with music, magic, and dance, and has been enthusiastically applauded by children and family audiences alike. The cast features the talents of: Nina King as Tish, Gideon Strong as Star Bright, Olive O’Connor as the Mime, Stephanie Johnson as the World’s Greatest Dancing Bear, Richard Carpenter as Great Ringmaster, Mallory Gordon as Little Bear, Christina Rodgers as Mother and Inez Manor Parker in a special appearance as Aunt Ellen.
Performance dates for A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Arkansaw Bear are Friday evenings, April 25th and May 2nd at 7:30 p.m., with matinee performances on April 26th, April 27th, May 3rd and May 4th at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets are $17 for adults, $13 for seniors and $12 for students. Tickets for A Midsummer Night’s Dream & The Arkansaw Bear are available for purchase at https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/oswego-players-inc/6782a9f98be0090f6c3a5ccc/. Tickets can also be purchased by clicking the ticket button on oswegoplayers.org or by calling the theatre’s box office at (315) 343-5138.
This project is made possible through the CNY Arts Grants for Regional Arts and Cultural Engagement regrant program, thanks to a New York State Senate Initiative supported by the NYS Legislature, the Office of the Governor and administered by the New York State Council on the Arts.
The Arkansaw Bear is presented by special arrangement with The Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Illinois.
The cast of the Oswego Players production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream assembles for the first time. Tickets are $17 for adults, $13 for seniors and $12 for students. Tickets for A Midsummer Night’s Dream & The Arkansaw Bear are available for purchase at https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/oswego-players-inc/6782a9f98be0090f6c3a5ccc/. Tickets can also be purchased by clicking the ticket button on oswegoplayers.org or by calling the theatre’s box office at (315) 343-5138.