Spells, fairies, a human with a donkey head, and a love square are just a few of the aspects in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, the play Susky put on this year.   A Midsummer Night’s Dream came with a special twist; it was set in the seventies.  Seventies music was included with songs like “Ballroom Blitz” by The Sweet and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John with Kiki Dee. Junior Jenni Ferg, who played Thistledown, enjoyed the twist.  “To choreograph [the fight scene] to music was pretty cool,” said Ferg.  “Especially because it was a seventies theme…”  Senior Sarah Tyler enjoyed the play, but found it was hard to understand.  “They did a really good job of presenting it, but Shakespeare is hard to follow,” said Tyler.

The play is set in Athens, Greece and follows four lovers: Lysander, played by

Senior Nathan Coulter, Hermia, played by senior Wynter Graybill, Demetrius, played by sophomore Clayton Leasure, and Helena, played by senior Konnie Brown.  Hermia wants to marry Lysander, but her mother, Egea, played by sophomore Alexis Anelli, wants her to marry Demetrius.  Hermia and Lysander run away, so they can be together.  They find Helena, Hermia’s friend, and Demetrius, Helena’s love interest.  Meanwhile, Oberon, played by Kyle Shaffer, is the king of the fairies and is in a fight with Queen Titania, played by senior Kayla Anelli.  Oberon asks the mischievous fairy, Puck, played by senior Heidi Stevenson, to find a magic flower that causes people to fall in love with the first person they see when they wake up.  Oberon wants the spell put on Titania to get back at her.  The lovers get lost in the woods, and Oberon sees Helena begging Demetrius to love her, so he orders Puck to put the spell on Demetrius, too, but it’s accidentally put on Lysander.  When Puck realizes the mistake, he puts the spell on Demetrius, too.  The lovers all fight since both men are pursuing Helena, and Hermia does not understand why Lysander does not love her anymore.  While a group of actors were rehearsing a play in the woods, Puck sees the actor Nick Bottom, played by senior Courtney Reed, and he is the person that Titania falls in love with when she wakes up.  English teacher Tamara Kelley found Reed’s performance of a few lines of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” enjoyable.  “[My favorite scene was] when Courtney was singing the Queen song.  I could listen to that again,” said Kelley.  Puck eventually fixes everything, and the lovers get married to their objects of desire.  The actors perform their play to the lovers and Duke Theseus, who is played by senior Sean Kaliszak, and his wife, Hippolyta, who is played by senior Ellie Lesko.  Fly rail manager and crew leader Mac Gray enjoyed working on the play.  “I like seeing how all of our hard work ties together in the end,” said Gray.