When you think of Shakespearean drama, you probably think of romance and witchcraft, not clown noses and pink unicorn floaties. This semester’s 5C production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a modern, whimsical twist on the classic play, filled with these unconventional props, experimental accents, cross-dressing and other eclectic additions.
This fall, the Pomona College Department of Theatre — which serves all five colleges — chose to put on a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Pomona theatre lecturer Tim Giles, as one of this semester’s two major shows. The other, existential slasher-comedy “Hookman,” premiered on Oct. 2 at Pomona’s Allen Theatre.
Although many students will only get to experience the final polished product and the jokes that survived, TSL had the opportunity to get exclusive, behind-the-scenes coverage of putting together such a large-scale, innovative interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic play.
Through interviews and photography, we documented this process from inception to the debut — this piece serves as an opportunity for readers and audience members to take a look behind the curtain at the creative chaos that is “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Setting the stage
The actors believe that this Shakespearean play has, in a way, always relied on its cast. As a play-within-a-play, it naturally acts as a canvas for actors to tap into improvisation and experimentation.
The performance opens with a romantic entanglement between four young Athenians. The mayhem truly begins after the lovers follow one another into an enchanted forest.
Within the forest, they get caught in the middle of a dispute amongst fairies, suddenly facing mistaken love potions and confusion. Back in Athens, there is a group of unseasoned actors preparing for a play of their own to be shown at a wedding.
For the production’s 19-person cast, these rehearsals were a continuous act of creation. The final production was filled with moments where cast members reached far beyond the script and into the depths of artistic improv.
In this way, the show evolved during each rehearsal, as new jokes were integrated from nothing but the actor’s impulses or intent to make a friend laugh. In this way, the show was half-devised and heavily relied on improvisation.
Early days
Many cast members described how the creative process of this production was anything but conventional.
“[Tim Giles, the director,] had us do a run-through on our second rehearsal, but we hadn’t blocked a single thing,” Mabel Weismann SC ’28, who plays Snug the Joiner, said. “We had no idea where the show was going to go, but he wanted to see it on its feet and see what our instincts were.”
Of course, there could not be chaos without routine.
Each rehearsal began with procedure warmups. They were often silly and involved, allowing actors to loosen their inhibitions and surrender to the carefree spirit of improvisation.
Jensen Goldman SC ’26, who plays Hippolyta, recounted a particularly memorable warmup.
“We were playing this game, which is like Red Light, Green Light, but you’re competing with each other and you have to get a fidget toy,” Goldman said.
“It took so long because we were all really into it. It was super intense, we were yelling at each other and pushing to get this fidget toy.”
For many actors, warmups were one of their favorite aspects of these nights. In the absence of precarious lighting cues and blocking, these unscripted moments gave the large cast an opportunity to be silly together and build camaraderie.
“LINE?”
Just three weeks before opening night, the cast was off-book. Without the script as a crutch, actors surrendered to the theatrics and the chaos that ensues when lines are not fully memorized.
“[At this point] everyone’s calling ‘line?’ a lot and everyone’s kind of stumbling over themselves,” Goldman said. “But I think the point, where no one really knows exactly what’s going on, is one of the best parts of the process in terms of figuring out things about the show and your character.”
Student actors spoke about how, after long hours of classes, rehearsals urged them to let loose and give in to absurdity in a way that felt almost inevitable.
“Something fun that people don’t always grasp is how it’s not even possible to embarrass yourself because you are all in this boat together,” Goldman said.
The week before tech week, the stage fluctuated between concentration and amusement, as everyone worked to be on the same page.
Actors worked tirelessly to refine their characters and movement, while the potential for an entirely new idea always remained open.
Still, every night looked completely different.
Anything that the cast suggested, no matter how outrageous, was enthusiastically received by their director.
“We find ways to make these [ideas] material, which has been something really great,” Molly Grace PO ’28, who plays Oberon, said. “It feels welcoming. I’ll be like ‘oh it’d be funny if I hit somebody with an inflatable hammer’ and then the next rehearsal I have an inflatable hammer.”
For Jordan Becknell SC ’26, who plays Puck – one of Shakespeare’s most prominent mischief makers – the most rewarding part of the production was that her character went through so many iterations.
Upon watching a Shakespeare play, some may believe that his dependable characters and their actions are set in stone by their fame. In contrast, Becknell spoke to how Puck’s on-stage characterization allowed her to indulge in a mischievous nature and child-like wonder. One rehearsal, he’s orbiting Oberon, pining for his good graces; the next night, he’s flailing and aloof.
“There was a version of me [Puck] in the last scene that was a New Yorker,” Becknell said. “There were versions of me that were a little bit meaner, a little more leaning into the fairy, into the child.”
Dress rehearsal
A week’s passing was suddenly made apparent through glued feathers and electric blue eyeshadow, marking the presence of tech week.
Instead of running around and tying up loose ends, Stage Manager Mia Giggs-Yew SC ’26 was stationed in the audience, calling cues into a headset. Under the eyes of a handful of students and supportive professors, actors took to the stage with newfound focus.
“There’s something magical about putting on a costume and feeling completely in character,” Angel said.”
As each actor slipped into their costumes, jokes and gestures that had seemed bizarre weeks ago suddenly felt natural.
Dress rehearsals reveal something special: the actors’ tireless efforts to perfect their on-stage personas finally materialized.
“There’s something magical about putting on a costume and feeling completely in character,” Kevin Angel PO ’27, who plays Titania, the queen of fairies, said. “The moment I put on that dress, I thought, ‘Titania wants to twirl. She wants to dance; she wants to move with flair.’ Dress rehearsals can be very technical with all the new added elements such as sound, lighting and cues, but there’s this wonderful sense of excitement in finally stepping into this character.”
This feeling was shared across the stage. As the lights warmed the set, scenes that had only existed in fragments suddenly began to weave together.
As the actors darted across the stage, reciting their lines like it was second nature and swiveling set pieces during scene changes, it would have been easy to forget about the nights of delightful disarray that once filled rehearsals.
The production is a mosaic of these moments, where the cast learned to take risks and tap into different sides of their personality. The cast embraces spontaneity and experimentation, making the audience a part of every performance.
“My blazer made me look like a Dorito, but it made us look more clownish,” Kira Barker SC ’26, who plays Hermia, one of the Athenian lovers, said. “Before, I was taking my character pretty seriously, and then once we had all of the clownish makeup on, I was like ‘Oh, I can really be playful cause these aren’t normal characters.’”
For the final production, Grace has one simple message for the audience:
“Do not laugh at us unless you want to,” she said. “Don’t laugh unless we’ve earned it. Do not give us those pity laughs.”
The show will run from Thursday, Nov. 13 to Sunday, Nov. 16. Tickets can be purchased from the Pomona theatre department’s website.
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