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Shakespeare’s enchanting comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” — with young lovers, human and fairy royalty and a theater troupe reeling through romance and spellcraft — is re-imagined with a “Bollywood” twist in a new adaptation by Adjunct Associate Professor of Theatre Luke Jorgensen ’91 that runs April 26-29 at Robsham Theater. Jorgensen recently discussed with Chronicle his inspiration for, and the making of, this production, which marks the finale for Robsham’s 30th anniversary season celebration. Cast and crew information and other details about the show are available here.
Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a classic. What inspired you to do a “Bollywood” interpretation?
“Midsummer” has always been a favorite of mine. I teach it in class every semester. Last year a Hindu friend invited my family and me to a party to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali. It was a beautiful occasion with lights, great music, vivid colors and wonderful foods. Shakespeare set his plays in locales he thought of as exotic, many of which he never visited. I began to imagine a “Midsummer” set in India. As I re-read the play I noticed a line where Titania, Queen of the Faeries asks Oberon, “Why art thou here, Come from the farthest Steppe of India?” It clicked as an idea for a concept.
I started watching “Bollywood” films. Many of these cinematic love stories involve musical dance numbers that are a fusion of modern and classical dance and music of India. Our production is full of dance and music. Our supernatural characters are based on Hindu gods and we have students who have been involved in Indian dance on campus, including our choreographer, senior Ariel Durgana, who has worked with BC Indian dance group MASTI (the dance troupe of the South Asian Students Association) since she was a freshman.
In what ways does the play lend itself to this presentation? Did you adapt Shakespeare’s distinct language and dialogue?
Shakespeare has indicated several moments where the characters call for song and dance, so it wasn’t too difficult to find appropriate moments. Also, with over a dozen dancers in the production, every entrance and exit of the “faeries” is an opportunity for visual spectacle. I did make some cuts in the script to allow for the dance numbers and to keep the play feeling fast-paced. In a few circumstances I changed a reference from Athens to Bombay and changed a pronoun or two to reflect the gender of the actor. There might be one or two changes in addition to that. Hopefully I won’t see any of my colleagues from the English Department outside the theater with torches and pitchforks.
How have the student participants embraced the “Bollywood” concept, including the music and dance that are part of the show?
I think at first there was a lot of confusion and excitement. We watched a Hindi film together and they were able to see “Bollywood” dance and production values. I think being able to see the work of Ariel Durgana and MASTI at BC has been essential to the actors embracing the concept of the show.
What has been the biggest challenge, in terms of the making of this production? Most exciting?
There is no doubt that this show has been a huge amount of work for everyone. There is not a single person involved with the play that understood all aspects of this play as we began. Many of the cast members are accomplished actors, others are great dancers, and some have experience with Indian dance (five members of the cast have danced with MASTI) but have never acted before. Others are tremendous athletes — three BC football players — but have never danced and have limited acting experience. Most of them expressed a “fear of Shakespeare.”
I think the greatest challenge has been getting everyone up to speed with everyone else in the diverse skill sets. From the outset I wanted this “Midsummer” to be a true spectacle. I wanted the audience to be amazed by the athleticism and beauty of the production while also getting caught up in the musicality of the language. What has been tremendously exciting is seeing each cast member sharing some of what they are excellent at with other cast members, while learning from each other what is new to them. Actors are encouraging dancers and helping them rehearse lines, students are instructing our designers in the application of henna tattooing.
Seeing the interaction of all these different students working towards interpreting Shakespeare for 2012 has been the most exciting part for me. Watching a Russian-born ballerina sample Indian cuisine at rehearsal and turn a deeper shade of red than the curtain was a real highlight. I think the fact that the play is about love and dating and the difficulties therein has provided a common ground. The cast members have become very fond of each other.
You described this production as “possibly the most colorful, exciting and diverse cast and show” to be staged at Robsham. Please elaborate.
As a director, I guess I am allowed to get excited about my cast and show but I don’t think it’s all hyperbole either. We have 35 cast members whom I have met from different activities at BC: theatre majors, football players, and members of different dance and comedy organizations. Whenever you set a play in a different culture or country you worry that people of that culture may reject the idea. So I am pleased to have members of the cast who are of Indian heritage. They have been essential to the understanding of the show. Our costume designer Jacqueline Dalley has pushed herself with great success to use the traditional sari from India and deeply saturated colors to create this world. The colors are fantastic and everything seems to glow and sparkle. Much of the jewelry makes sounds as the dancers move. Our Puck, based on little Krishna, will be painted blue from head to toe. From student government, to SASA to the AHANA Leadership Council and ROTC, I think the University is well represented in the cast.
Is this the first time that BC football players have been cast in a Robsham production? How did you “recruit” them?
Our cast reflects the diverse community of interests at BC. I think it’s wonderful. I am not sure if, or how many, football players have ever been in a Robsham show but I tend to doubt there have ever been three in one production. I can tell you they have made quite a splash in the costume shop. I believe all three have necks that are larger than the waists of some of the dancers.
I met Nate Richman, Emmett Cleary and Michael Stone through my work with First Year Experience and the orientation scenes that I help to direct each summer. They later each took my acting class at BC. Nate, who plays Oberon, has acted several times before. He was in a student production last year at BC. All three did well in my class and I was very excited to see their names on the audition list.
What can audience members — many of whom will be familiar with the traditional interpretation of the play — expect from the production?
A fresh take. An explosion of energy, excitement, dance, music, physical comedy as well as the poetry of language that they are expecting.
As your vision comes to life on stage, what do you hope the audience takes away from this production?
I want the audience to be reminded of the power of live performance and the beauty of Shakespeare. I want our students to associate something exciting with Shakespeare. I want them to look forward to seeing what the Theatre Department is putting up next.