CONTENTS 3 The company 4 Shakespeare by the bow 5 Our Sponsors 6 Who’s who 8 The story (#Spoileralert) 11 designer notes 16 did you know? 18 cast Q&A
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THE COMPANY The thirteen cast members of A Midsummer Night’s Dream are Albertan emerging artists taking part in Theatre Calgary’s Shakespeare by the Bow theatre training program.
cast MELANIE BAHNIUK gabby bernard jerod blake billy brown griffin cork elizabeth ferguson-breaker emily howard maggie mackenzie liam mckinnon jonathan molinski robyn ord spencer streichert joel david taylor
Titania/Hippolyta helena bottom puck/philostrate oberon/theseus snug hermia starveling flute demetrius peter quince/egeus snout lysander
CREATIVE TEAM ted dykstra* jenna turk deitra kalyn Rebecca Toon terry tweed jane macfarlane haysam kadri carissa sams*
director, Composer, adaptation adaptation site & stage design costume & prop design text coach vocal coach program director stage manager
* The participation of these Artists are arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Dance·Opera·Theatre Policy.
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SHAKESPEARE BY THE BOW SUPPORTING ALBERTA’S EMERGING ARTISTS Shakespeare in Prince’s Island Park has a long and treasured history in our city. Theatre Calgary’s Shakespeare by the Bow gives all Calgarians an opportunity to enjoy theatre in this gorgeous natural setting throughout the summer. As Calgary’s largest and longest-running theatre company, we have a responsibility to nurture the up-and-coming artists who will grace our stages in future years. That’s why Theatre Calgary established this innovative program for recent graduates from post-secondary theatre training programs. All of the actors are Alberta residents embarking on the first stage of their professional careers. Participants in Shakespeare by the Bow gain practical knowledge and production experience by working with one of Canada’s leading directors and a professional production team to present a Shakespeare play. The program also features a team of mentors and coaches providing instruction in classical text, voice, speech, and other theatre skills and techniques. Many of our Shakespeare by the Bow alumni have also moved on to perform in our main stage productions including Bad Jews, The Crucible, King Lear, and Liberation Days.
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SHAKESPEARE BY THE BOW With the help of our audiences and sponsors, Theatre Calgary can continue to support our next generation of artists and ensure the future of this beloved summer tradition. You can help with your donation after the performance, or by contacting us at: donations@theatrecalgary.com
Shakespeare by the Bow offers training and practical experience that you simply can’t get in school. It is a gift to make magic in the park every night” - BOBBI GODDARD (THE TEMPEST, 2015)
THANK YOU To the following supporters for investing in our emerging artists and giving our world a stage.
FRIENDS OF THE BARD NORM & KATHY SCHACHAR
Who’s Who? THESEUS
HIPPOLYTA
PHILOSTRATE
SNUG demetrius TOM SNOUT robin starveling HELENA EGEUS PETER QUINCE FRANCIS FLUTE NICK BOTTOM
HERMIA LYSANDER TITANIA OBERON
ATHENIANS
PUCK
ACTING TROUPE
ENGAGED master of the revels HIRED BY TRUE LOVE LIEUTENANT (SERVES) MARRIED
FAIRIES
FAIRIES
LOVES TEMPORARILY (MAGIC) FRIENDS FATHER TO MAGICALLY MESSES WITH LOVES PREFERS
Who’s Who? THESEUS
PETER QUInce
EGEUS
SNUG
LYSANDER
NICK BOTTOM
DEMETRIUS
Francis Flute
PHILOSTRATE
tom Snout
Duke of Athens Father to Hermia In love with Hermia In love with Hermia Mater of the Revels to Theseus
HIPPOLYTA
Queen of the Amazons, bethrothed to Theseus
Hermia
Daughter to Egeus, in love with Lysander
HELENA
In love with Demetrius
lYSANDER
A carpenter A joiner A weaver
A bellows-mender A tinker
ROBIN Starveling A tailor
Oberon
King of the Fairies
Titania
Queen of the Fairies
Puck (robin goodfellow) Fairies (pease-blossom,
cobweb, moth, mustard-seed)
In love with Hermia
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THE STORY #Spoileralert A Midsummer Night’s Dream opens with Duke Theseus and the Amazon Queen Hippolyta planning their wedding when all of a sudden, Egeus comes in with his daughter, Hermia, and her two suitors, Lysander and Demetrius. Hermia is in love with Lysander, but her father wants her to marry Demetrius. Helena, a friend of Hermia, is also in love with Demetrius but he has recently broken up with her to be with Hermia. Theseus states that according to the law of the land, Hermia must marry Demetrius and if she refuses, she must either become a nun or be put to death. Lysander and Hermia decide to escape to the forest and get married. Hermia and Lysander then tell Helena about their plan. In a last-ditch effort to gain Demetrius’ love, Helena decides to tell him of this plot. In another part of town, Peter Quince is directing a group of amateur actors to perform “Pyramus and Thisbe” for Theseus’ wedding. Nick Bottom, an overenthusiastic actor, is given the lead role and they all decide to meet shortly in the forest to rehearse. Deep in forest, the Fairy Queen Titania and Fairy King Oberon are in a fight because Titania refuses to give Oberon custody of a boy she is raising. Seeking to punish Titania for her disobedience, Oberon sends Puck, his trouble-making servant, out to find a plant called “love-in-idleness”. When the mixture of the plant is dropped into to the eyelids of a sleeping person, that person, upon waking, falls in love with the first living creature that they see. Suddenly, Oberon sees Demetrius and Helena arguing. Taking pity on Helena for the terrible way Demetrius is treating her, Oberon instructs Puck to put some love juice in Demetrius’ eyes at the moment when Helena will be the first person he sees upon waking. While Titania and her servants
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THE STORY (continued) fall asleep, Oberon drops some of the juice in her eyes and sneaks away. Lysander and Hermia have gotten lost in the woods and need a place to rest. Hermia asks Lysander to sleep away from her for to preserve her modesty. Mistaking Lysander for Demetrius, Puck drops the juice in Lysander’s eyes. Helena, still in pursuit of Demetrius, comes upon Lysander sleeping. Not sure if he is dead or resting, she wakes him up, and he immediately falls in love with her. Thinking he is making fun of her, Helena runs away with Lysander in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, while the actors are rehearsing, Puck, decides as a joke to replace Bottom’s head with a donkey’s head. Bottom, unaware of the transformation, scares off his colleagues and in doing so, awakens Titania who immediately falls in love with him. Oberon sees Demetrius and Hermia together, and thinks his plan is going well until Puck reveals he put the juice on another man. Hermia accuses Demetrius of harming Lysander because Lysander wasn’t there when she woke up. She takes off and Demetrius, exhausted, goes to sleep. Oberon, upset at Pucks mistake, tells him to find Helena while he will put the juice in Demetrius’ eye. Lysander and Helena awaken Demetrius, who immediately falls for Helena. She is convinced that they are both mocking her. Hermia arrives and goes to Lysander who claims he never loved her. Hermia accuses Helena of stealing Lysander away from her while Helena believes Hermia joined the two men in mocking her. Hermia tries to attack Helena while Lysander and Demetrius decide to to duel to prove whose love for Helena is greater. Oberon orders Puck to put a healing herb in Lysander’s eyes so Lysander can return to love Hermia while Demetrius will continues to love Helena. All four lovers exhausted during the chase, fall asleep. Puck also casts a spell that none of the lovers will remember what happened.
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THE STORY (continued) Got it? Oberon tells Puck that Titana has been so infatuated with Bottom that she gave Oberon the boy and can now release her from the spell while Puck removes the donkey head from Bottom. Titana wakes up and is shocked that she fell in love with a donkey. Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus enter the forest and discover the young lovers asleep. They wake up them up and since Demetrius no longer loves Hermia, Theseus over-rules Egeus’s demands and arranges a group wedding. The lovers decide that the night’s events must have been a dream. After they exit, Bottom awakes, and he too decides that he must have experienced a dream. In Athens, Theseus, Hippolyta and the lovers watch the actors perform Pyramus and Thisbe. The performers are so terrible playing their roles that the guests laugh as if it were meant to be a comedy, and everyone retires to bed. Afterwards, Oberon and Titania bless the house and its occupants with good fortune. Puck suggests that what the audience experience might also just be a dream.
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DESIGNER NOTES
REBECCA TOON costume & Prop Design A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of my favourite plays. It has magic, romance and comedy, all of the key ingredients for a great story. In speaking with Ted Dykstra, the director, we wanted to place this production in a world that is not our own, with no tie to our history or fashion restrictions, which was music to my ears. As I began my research I found influences from other fantastical tales like The Princess Bride and Once Upon a Time to place us in the world of Theseus and Hippolyta. It is a repressive time, with many rules and restrictions on what is proper and appropriate for these young lovers.. When Helena, Hermia, Demetrius and Lysander go into the dream world, we wanted the fairies to be completely unlike the lovers; super modern and sexy. For these costumes, I found myself drawn to the incredible work of Alexander McQueen. Unstructured and relaxed, I wanted to layer florals with strong pieces, mirroring the natural forest they live in. For the set, we have minimal props and dressing, just the beautiful “S” shape set we’ve used in previous years, which gives us lots of playing space. And what’s a better backdrop than Prince’s Island Park to see this production. Enjoy the show!
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DID YOU KNOW? The first known piece of criticism of the play was an entry in the diary of Samuel Pepys
Pepys, who saw A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed in 1662, recorded in his diary he went to “The King’s Theatre, where we saw “Midsummer’s Night’s Dream,” which I had never seen before, nor shall ever again, for it is the most insipid ridiculous play that ever I saw in my life” (though he adds that he liked the dancing, as well as the ‘handsome women’ he saw, ‘which was all my pleasure’).
The play has inspired some unlikely narratives, INcluding – perhaps oddest of all – Die Hard.
Henry Purcell’s celebrated opera of the 1690s, The Fairy Queen, was inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream. (Indeed, productions of the play which involve musical interludes have inspired some memorable music, most famously the ‘The Wedding March’, composed by Felix Mendelssohn as part of the incidental music for a 1840s production and played at millions of weddings since.) But the play’s influence also extends into the world of the movies. The director of the 1988 blockbuster film Die Hard, John McTiernan, has stated that he was inspired by the play to set the action of his film over the course of one single night. However, A Midsummer Night’s Dream doesn’t, in fact, take place in a single night but rather four or five nights.
Midsummer went through a long dry-spell Unlike today, where A Midsummer Night’s Dream is incredibly popular and performed all over the world, it suffered neglect for two centuries and was not performed in its entirety until the 1840s.
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DID YOU KNOW? (Continued) Three of the moons of the planet Uranus are named after characters from the play Orbiting Uranus are Puck, Oberon, and Titania, named, respectively, in honour of the sprite from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (whose alternative name is Robin Goodfellow) and the King and Queen of the Fairies. Puck, a moon discovered in 1985, is an apt name for a satellite which orbits a planet, given that in the play Puck announces that he’ll ‘put a girdle round about the Earth / In forty minutes’.
Over-zealous playing made an ass of one Bottom
According to the Rough Guide to Shakespeare, one Midsummer performance that took place around 1631 at Buckdale, Huntingdonshire broke the Sabbath, causing the actor playing Bottom to be placed in the stocks for 12 hours, still wearing his ass’s head.
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CAST Q&A MELANIE BAHNIUK TITANIA/ HYPpolytA UofA
first role Bethesda Pitts in They Came From Somewhere in eighth grade.
dream role Javert in Les Miserables or a witch in Macbeth.
who i’d run away to the forest with Probably my dog Finn or Anderson East.
A magical power i would love to have Time travelling.
If I turned into an animal, i would be Definitely a Bernese Mountain dog or a wolf.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway One time in junior high my friends and I brought alcohol to school in these little bottles they gave out to us every year that had holy water in them for a school dance (I went to a Catholic Junior High). Needless to say, we got caught and suspended.
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CAST Q&A
GABBY BERNARD helena UofA
first role Reporter #1 in the school’s Christmas pageant.
dream role The Witch in Into the Woods.
who i’d run away to the forest with A funghi expert! If I’m going to live in a forest, I might as well eat well.
A magical power i would love to have Invisibility. Eavesdropping is my favourite bad habit.
If I turned into an animal, i would be A barn owl.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway In high school, I helped steal a friend’s keys so we could move her car and cover it in saran-wrap. It started a pretty funny series of pranks that got a little out of hand.
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CAST Q&A
jerod blake nick bottom first role 2nd Police man, Oliver Twist grade 3.
dream role John Proctor (The Crucible), MacBeth.
who i’d run away to the forest with Anybody who knows what they’re doing in the wilderness because I’m a city boy.
A magical power i would love to have The cure to end all mental health illnesses.
If I turned into an animal, i would be A sloth. They live the tropical, easy going, hang out in trees life.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway Dyed my buzz cut when I was 17 with blue Kool Aid, however, my hair didn’t take the color, my scalp did. I had smurf scalp for 2 months.
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CAST Q&A
BILLY BROWN PUCk/ Philostrate UofA
first role Michael in Peter Pan.
dream role Puck.
who i’d run away to the forest with Joel David Taylor.
A magical power i would love to have The ability to make everyone speak their mind (except me of course).
If I turned into an animal, i would be A monkey.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway
I was working on a show in Regina a few years ago and the cast members who were from out of town (including myself) all lived in this small condo for 2 months. There were some stories on the news about people’s houses getting broken into and someone was assaulted. Anyways, one night there was this huge storm and the power went out. Everywhere in the condo was pitch black and the thunder literally shook the building; it was spooky. My friend Jessica (who I had actually just graduated with from MacEwan) went upstairs to grab her stuff and bring it downstairs because she didn’t want to sleep alone. While she was doing this I stuck upstairs and into the closet by her door. I remember thinking, “don’t do this, it’s not gonna end well”. When Jessica had finally gotten all of her stuff together and was walking out the room, I stuck my hand out of the closet and grabbed her ankle. To this day I have not heard a louder scream. She ran downstairs and when she finally heard my stupid little laugh she was SO MAD AT ME. I MEAN LIKE NOT A FUNNY KINDA OF MAD A REAL REAL MAD. She still hasn’t forgiven me.
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CAST Q&A
GRIFFIN CORK oberon/theseus UofA
first role The first one that I can remember is the riveting role of “The Carpenter” in a Quest Theatre Summer Camp show. I don’t remember what it was about, or what it was called, but I was hitting the stage with a hammer and there was mention of a dragon.
dream role If we are talking my dream role right now, I would love to play Ezra in Legoland. But if I’m allowed to be any age, my dream role in my later years would be Columbo in Columbo takes the Rap.
who i’d run away to the forest with My father. We’ve talked about this. If there was ever a Zombie Apocalypse and our house wasn’t defendable, into the woods we go.
A magical power i would love to have I’d LOVE to control the weather. I’m sure I’d mess up the earth if somebody gave me that power, but that’s what I’d want. I’d be a fair weather lord.
If I turned into an animal, i would be A Bernese Mountain Dog.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway Eating that burger. And the one before that. And the eleven before that one.
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CAST Q&A ELIZABETH FERGUSONBREAKER snug UofLethbridge
first role Orphan in Annie.
dream role Anything in Disney.
who i’d run away to the forest with My cat.
A magical power i would love to have Anything possible with a wand.
If I turned into an animal, i would be A Panda bear.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway Get a credit card.
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CAST Q&A
EMILY HOWARD HERMIA UofA
first role The Wall in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
dream role Ophelia in Hamlet.
who i’d run away to the forest with A good dog.
A magical power i would love to have Seeing into the future.
If I turned into an animal, i would be Lioness.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway Extra cheese please.
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CAST Q&A MAGGIe MACKENZIE robin starveling
Rosebud school of the arts
first role I was the bird that ate the last chocolate chip from the chocolate chip cookies that Hansel and Gretel left behind in an attempt to save themselves from the witch.
dream role Originating a role in a Kat Sandler play.
who i’d run away to the forest with Bethany Wickens, she’d pack snacks.
A magical power i would love to have The ability to make food appear. Hangry no more!!
If I turned into an animal, i would be Chipmunk.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway I went to the movie theatre, bought a large popcorn and candy, went home without even seeing a movie and ate until I felt sick.
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CAST Q&A
LIAM MCKINNON FRANCIS FLUTE macewan university
first role The Nutcracker in The Nutcracker.
dream role Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
who i’d run away to the forest with My Dad. He’d know what to do in there.
A magical power i would love to have The ability to repair or realign any part of anyone’s body. (With consent, of course)
If I turned into an animal, i would be Gorilla.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway I ate a flower petal. I thought it would be funny and it was… just not for me.
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CAST Q&A
JONATHAN MOLINSKI DEMETRIUS UofC
first role A Rabbi in I Never Saw Another Butterfly.
dream role Cassius from Julius Caesar.
who i’d run away to the forest with A large pepperoni pizza, my one true love. Dependable, will never complain about the weather or the rocks we have to sleep on, and will also feed my body and soul.
A magical power i would love to have
So this is a real loaded question, how do you define magical powers? Is it the same as a superpower? But some superpowers are based on science and therefore are not considered magic. But if we brought our current technology back in time then would that not be considered magic to the denizens of that period? So based on that I don’t know how to define what is or is not a magical power. Could science be considered magic? Because then I would love to have powers like Spider-Man. If it’s not, I don’t know, Lightning Bolt?
If I turned into an animal, i would be A Raccoon.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway Rapped in my high school talent show. It still haunts me to this day.
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CAST Q&A
ROBYN ORD PETER QUINCE
MOUNT ROYAL UNIVERSITY
first role Mother Nature in my Grade 5 school play.
dream role Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd.
who i’d run away to the forest with My best friend Simon OF COURSE!
A magical power i would love to have Flying… DUH!
If I turned into an animal, i would be Probably a giraffe to be honest.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway Got MSN when I was in Grade 6 because all my friends had it and it was cool but I was so not allowed to have it… Sorry Mom and Dad!
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CAST Q&A
SPENCER STREICHERT tom snout UofC
first role I was the donkey in the nativity scene in kindergarten. I still haven’t achieved such success...
dream role Barry Champlain in Talk Radio by Eric Bogosian.
who i’d run away to the forest with Anyone who I can easily outrun, because that’s where bears live.!
A magical power i would love to have Invincibility, duh.
If I turned into an animal, i would be Probably a naked mole rat.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway When I was younger I used to compete in rodeo events and when I was 15 I had my head stepped on by a bull. At the time though, I was sitting 3rd place in the country in the Novice Bronc riding standings. So 3 weeks later I snuck out of my house, hitch hiked to a rodeo without telling my parents, and ended up getting into an even bigger wreck than when I got hurt 3 weeks prior and got hung up to the bucking horse. Tons of my parents friends were there too so when I got home I was in more trouble than I have ever been in, on top of being severely concussed. Still won that rodeo though!
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CAST Q&A
JOEL DAVID TAYLOR lysander UofA
first role The Defense in Blood Relations by Sharon Pollock.
dream role Just about anything written by Rajiv Joseph.
who i’d run away to the forest with My dog Kaleb, we would survive two days.
A magical power i would love to have Immunity to procrastination.
If I turned into an animal, i would be A turtle.
Something you knew you shouldn’t, but you did anyway Watched an entire season of Game of Thrones in one sitting.
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