News : ACT 1 plans auditions for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

ACT I of Benton County is pleased to announce auditions for the opening main stage production of its 2012 – 2013 season. William Shakespeare’s rollicking comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be presented August 3 – 12 at the Vinton – Shellsburg High School auditorium.

Shakespeare’s airy, magical comedy has delighted audiences around the world for over 400 years.

Auditions will be held Sunday, April 22 at 2:00 pm and Monday, April 23 at 6:30 pm at the ACT I studio above Clingman Pharmacy. The large cast includes roles both large and small for all ages and both genders.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare uses three sets of characters and three simultaneous plot lines for a rich mix of romantic comedy, slapstick comedy, and drama as the comic farce unfolds in a forest outside Athens. Two pairs of lovers rendezvous in the woods, while in another part of the woods a community theatre group rehearses The Tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe. A mischievous band of fairies make sport of both with a magic love flower that can cause a sleeping person to fall in love with the first living thing he or she sees upon awakening. The final scene of the play, in which Pyramus and Thisbe is performed for the wedding of Theseus, Duke of Athens, is one of the most beloved comic scenes ever written in the English language.

This is the second time ACT I will have mounted a script by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet was presented by the community theatre group in February, 2002.

For more information about auditions, contact the production director, Steve Arnold, 472-5308 or e-mail SArnoldIA@aol.com.