Hattiesburg Civic Light Opera will present its second annual Shakespeare in the Park performance March 14-17 at Walthall Park in Historic Downtown Hattiesburg. The play is A Midsummer Night’s Dream and follows up on the success of last season’s Macbeth.
Directed by USM Technical Director Wes Hanson, the production will again be staged in a promenade setting, where the players and audience move from one locale to another during the production.
“Audiences responded very positively to this notion of an outdoor Shakespeare event,” said HCLO Vice-President. “And we were pleasantly surprised at how receptive they were to the material. It once again confirms that we have a very savvy arts community here in Hattiesburg.”
These year’s production will feature a nightly Renaissance Fair atmosphere with food and drink vendors, games, crafts, and live music. Thurs, Fri, Sun (14, 15, & 17), the fair will begin at 6 p.m. and run for the hour and a half prior to curtain (at 7:30). Saturday. March 16, begins at 2:30 pm and runs the balance of the afternoon until curtain.
“Saturday will be the big Ren Fair day. It will feature the most events and will have something for everyone, adults and children alike. And, yes, there’ll be giant turkey legs,” said HCLO Board Member, Lindsay Williams.
Midsummer, unlike Macbeth, is a comedy. The play takes plays in a mythical Athens, Greece, as four young lovers defy the wishes of parents and their duke, Theseus, by escaping into the woods to consummate their romances. Meanwhile, a rag-tag acting troupe rehearse a play they hope to perform at the Duke’s upcoming wedding celebration. Deep in the enchanted forest, the king and queen of fairies, Oberon and Titania, feud with one another and find themselves drawn into the shenanigans of both the lovers and the actors. Magic and mischief abound. After all, “the course of true love never did run smooth.” “Midsummer truly is a hilarious and magical piece of literature. It contains some of Shakespeare’s most famous verses. There’s a reason its probably his most widely-produced play,” says Doleac.
HCLO’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs March 14-17 at Walthall Park in Historic Downtown Hattiesburg (517 Rebecca Avenue, Hattiesburg, MS 39401). Curtain nightly at 7:30. Tickets are $25.00 and are on sale now at HCLO.ORG. There is no charge to attend the Renaissance Faire.
