Preview of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by CYT

Waterbury - CYT City Youth Theater will present their production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” this weekend only. It opens on Friday, July 15 and runs through July 17, with performances presented at the beautiful Rotella Magnet School, easy to find at 380 Pierpont Road in Waterbury.

This is Shakespeare’s beloved comedy that captivates with the intertwined stories of six bumbling actors, four lovestruck teenagers, one royal wedding, and the infinite magical realm of the fairies. It is appropriate for the whole family.

This production features a cast of mostly young performers, with teens taking most of the leading roles and young girls appropriately playing Titania’s fairies. The performers are of all ages and levels of experience, but everyone commits to their roles despite the Shakespearean lines and many give admirable performances.

Peter M. Kershaw directs the cast and describes the production as a labor of love by all involved. Mikayla Guyton is the assistant director/stage manager, and Shelby Davis is the executive director and producer. Matthew J. Kershaw serves as technical director and Jakob Kelsey was still working on the lighting design at the rehearsal that I was invited to attend, but what I saw shows lots of promise.

Daia Jade Johnson (pictured above, at right,) a sophomore at Oxford High School who also attends the Educational Center for the Arts, is excellent in the role of the young Athenian lovestruck lover Hermia. Kendall Soviero, who has appeared in performances at the Educational Center for the Arts, brings a strong stage presence in the role of Helena, bringing out all of the comedic elements in her character. Sofia Love Giusti (pictured above, at left) pulls off the role of Lysander and Lilyana Bodnar, a 13 year old WAMS student, is equally convincing as the final young Athenian Demetrius. The four have a lot to do and they all do it well.

Hanalei Cocchiola (pictured above,) who worked with Blessed Sacrament Children’s Theater, is a delight in the role of the sprite Robin Goodfellow, flitting about the stage in a great costume as her character attempts to follow the orders of her master Oberon (Angel West.)

Ariel Pierre (pictured above) was part of "The Music Man” with Blessed Sacrament Children’s Theatre. She beautifully portrays Titania in a dreamy green gown decorated with strings of flowers.

Zhaynah James will play Theseus, about to marry the lovely Hippolyta, played by Tefta Mino. Hailey Tischer takes on the role of Egeus, the father of Hermia and Jade Serenity Garcia will play the Philostrate.

WAMS student Nick Bates, 15, (pictured above) leads the bumbling and very funny group of actors in the role of Nick Bottom and brought a smile to my face every time he entered the stage. This young man was part of “Once on this Island” with CYT.)

Alivia Clendinen, who appeared in “Snow White and The Gang” at Seven Angels, does very well in the role of Peter Quince, who tries mightily to wrangle her actors as they prepare to perform at the upcoming wedding. As the bumbling group of wannabe actors, there is Mikayla Labbe, a student and teacher with Shakespearience, as Francis Flue, Grace Labbe (“Once on this Island”) as Robin Starveling, Christopher Townsend at Tom Snout and Todd Labbe is back on stage after 20 years as Snug.

The little fairies include Hope Labbe as Peaseblossom, Cheyenne Brown as Cobweb, Aliza Cocchiola as Mote, Etta Townsend (“Once on this Island” with CYT) as Mustardseed and Jaziel Rodrigques as “a fairy.”

As the attendants for the Athenians and fairies are Hailey Tischer, Meriangely Guzman and ten year old Faith Petteway, who attends Rotella Magnet School.

The delightful costumes, courtesy of Shakesperience and Landmark Community Theatre, bring the audience to the different realms of the story, with regal costumes for the royals, ethereal dresses for the fairies with floral touches and very good “costumes within costumes” for the Mechanicals. Tefta Mino is credited with the delightful makeup that I saw.

The director notes in the virtual program that many of the set pieces and props were handmade and they add to the look of the production.

“Midsummer” is presented with a 15-minute intermission. For tickets, visit: Tinyurl.com/cytmidsummer

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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