After the success of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, the Cinco Ranch Theatre Company (CRTC) will begin preparing for its next play, “Midsummer/Jersey”.
However, this year the company will perform two shows in the fall instead of one per each semester as it was in the past.
The title of the play is meant to convey the play’s setting in New Jersey and is a spin on the Shakespearean classic, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
The play centers on the love affairs of four beach-bound high school students, the upcoming marriage of the Governor of New Jersey, the staff of a local beauty salon and a lively crew of fairies. When the mischievious Oberon and Puck arrive with a love potion, things become messy.
With the weight of the acting careers of six beauticians and several weddings on their shoulders, the characters head for the boardwalk, backed by pop music.
By not using the traditional version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, CRTC hopes to draw an audience that would not usually be interested in Shakespearean theatre.
“The way it’s adapted to modern day wording is pretty fun,” sophomore Kamron Ledet, who plays the governor of New Jersey, said. “It uses Shakespearean language in a funny way.”
The CRTC strives to produce quality plays that the whole community can enjoy, that theatre students can learn new skills from, and that make the directors, actors, technicians, and the school proud.
“Our goals for this particular production are to produce a play that helps bring Shakespeare’s story to life in an accessible way filled with heart and hilarity,” theatre teacher Stephen Brown said.
Each production goes through various stages to ensure a flawless performance through a time span of four to six weeks.
“There are a lot of different stages we go through,” Ledet said. “[In] the first part we set up all our movements, and then we move into working on acting, where we just focus on our characters and how we want them to act. Crew is also interesting because they work on different technical aspects of the show.”
There are around 70 students involved, and rehearsals are every Monday through Saturday for this production.
The show will run from Nov. 15 to Nov. 17 in the Performing Arts Center at 7:30 pm.
“We are doing both main stage plays in the fall this year to shake things up with a different schedule [and] to allow time in the second semester to do some other activities such as workshops, student showcases, and work with our junior high feeders,” theatre teacher Kathrine Gallas-Beyer said.
