MVCCT Production Puts A Modern Twist On A Shakespeare Classic

Shakespeare may have written “” in the 16^th century, but the Mount Vernon Community Children's Theater’s production of the play is anything but traditional."

Set in an urban environment with characters styled after modern-day life, the show will open Saturday evening at .

“The play’s hilarious,” says actor Matanah Betko, who is in seventh grade at Mark Twain Middle School.  “The actors know what they’re talking about so their actions and body language will sum it up.” 

The play centers on a pair of young lovers who run away into the woods together only to be met by manipulating fairies and a mischievous Puck, who throw a wrench into their budding romance.  The script is an abridged version by Catherine Weidener.

Director Tiffany Ford said she decided to put a modern twist on the play  to differentiate the production from otherof  "A Midsummer Night’s Dream". 

“The MVCCT board chose the play last fall, but then they realized that a lot of local high schools were doing it.  We considered switching to a different play, but the urban concept we had in mind was so different that [the board] kept their decision solid.” 

Take for example the character Theseus, which is played by Jon Poole. In the original play he is a king, but in MVCCT’s production, he is a business guru. 

“We made him a high powered businessman with an enormous amount of wealth.  That’s very much like royalty in the modern day,” Anton Ekman, a senior at Bishop Ireton High School

While the traditional version of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" is famous for its fairies, Ford says MVCCT’s rendition features punk girls instead.  In one scene the girls “find themselves in a spraypainted alleyway environment.  They see tiny backyard gardens that you’d find in the city, like four square feet of grass,” she said.

For lead actress Allison Shapiro, shifting Shakespeare to an urban environment has meant not only a change of costume, but also a change of mindset.  

“Everyone’s had to adjust their perception of their characters and the way they interact,” said Shapiro, a junior at South County. She plays the lead role of Puck.

Ford was a theater and philosophy major and University of Central Florida.  She works with several different theaters in the area, including Washington Improv Theater and Imagination Stage.  Last year she began her own youth improv endeavor called Wobble Rocket Stage. Ford says her teaching philosophy aims at teaching “lifelong learning skills and applying them in any creative or collaborative situation.”

And Ford’s committed approach is not lost on the cast of MVCCT’s "A Midsummer Night’s Dream". 

“It’s going to be a great production,” said Kate Reid, who plays business executive Hippolyta. “We’ve got a really talented cast. We worked very hard and we’re excited to perform. Tiffany [Ford] is great at putting productions together,” said Reid, who is in the eighth grade at Lake Braddock Middle School.