Cornell stages ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

MOUNT VERNON — “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Shakespeare’s timeless tale of lovers, nymphs, fairies, actors and aristocrats, takes the stage at Cornell College beginning Wednesday, March 15, at 8 p.m.

The performance is in Kimmel Theatre of Youngker Hall, with additional engagements Thursday through Saturday, March 16-18, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 19, at 2 p.m.

Directed by Ron Clark, Cornell artist-in-residence and co-artistic director of Riverside Theatre in Iowa City, the Cornell production takes place in an eastern European gypsy encampment during the mid-19th century. Clark says the setting adds cultural and musical richness to the play, in which mistaken identities, magical transformation and lyrical prose tell the story of one magical evening in the woods.

“One reason I would set a Shakespeare play outside of its own time is to help connect the play to the audience, so the setting makes it seem more likely and relevant,” he says.

For Riverside’s annual summer Shakespeare Festival, Clark has used early 19th-century Italy as the setting for “Much Ado About Nothing.” And festival director Mark Hunter, an assistant professor of theatre and communications studies at Cornell, has placed “Romeo and Juliet” in modern-day Jerusalem.

Admission to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is $8 for adults and $5 for students, seniors and youth. Admission is free to Cornell students, faculty and staff. Reserve tickets at (319) 895-4293.