RYTC this weekend: Local young actors tackle Shakespeare

By Philip Shore

ASHEBORO — A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare is one of the plays we who pretend to understand the bard rely on to sound like we know something high falutin. 

But what do we really know? Man with donkey head… arguing fairies … “What fools these mortals be” … and not much else. We need to know more. 

Randolph Youth Theater Company can fix us up in the most delightful way with their production of said play by said bard at the fantabulous Sunset Theatre. 

Performances are Thursday, March 26, 7 p.m.; Friday, March 27, 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 28, at 2 p.m. AND 7 p.m.; concluding with Sunday, March 29, at 2 p.m.

Tickets are available online at https://buytickets.at/randolphyouththeatrecompany/2090538  or at the door or at Brightside Gallery (cash or check only, please), 170 Worth Street. The price, you ask? $10 person. 

Young people need to know about literature that preceded Harry Potter. This play beats Harry by a good 300 years. 

In its original form, it was a five-act piece and about a rather confusing group of well-born young people and some local amateur actors transformed by fairies who are rather confusing also. 

What RYTC will do for you is pare it down, give you the story, and let you see goblutions of young talent do their stuff under the tutelage of Master People Mover/Motivator Jim Shover. Jim is a veteran teacher and performer (of dance and drama) to whom the kids cotton. 

The version of the play used by RYTC is an adaptation by Claudia Haas who has condensed grand literature into a suitable fix with youth theater while not interrupting the brilliant language of Mr. Shakespeare. Whimsical mishaps and fantastical characters abound in a cast that brings us not only the mischievous Puck, but also an array of comical players, a court of royal figures, and a pantheon of magical fairies intact from the original. Delight upon delight. 

Mr. Shover is using the play to provide an opportunity to bring to life (and understanding) this literary classic. He says, “These young actors have bitten into this work of comedy and are savoring the brilliance, joy, and verbiage to share it with audiences. After all, Shakespeare’s works were meant to come to life onstage, not merely to be read or sit on a shelf getting dusty.” 

Inhabiting this magical world, set in a mythic Athens, are the young people of Asheboro transmuted to 

The Athenians

Theseus — Duke of Athens (Elijah Satterfield).

Hippolyta — Queen of the Amazons engaged to Theseus (Rebekah Bost).

Philostrate — Theseus’s Mistress of Revels (Dahlia Neff).

Egeus — Hermia’s father (Ben Camp).

Hermia — in love with Lysander (Tatum White).

Lysander — in love with Hermia (Austin Elia).

Helena — in love with Demetrius (Kaitlyn Evans).

Demetrius — suitor to Hermia (Ethan Tally).

And also to ...

The Mechanicals

Quince — a carpenter who speaks the prologue (James Cheek).

Bottom — a weaver who plays ‘Pyramus’ (Jaxson Owen).

Flute — a bellows mender who plays Thisbe (Chloe Mitchell).

Snug — a joiner who plays ‘Lion’ (Sydney Thames).

Snout — a tinker who plays ‘Wall’ (Maxton Owen).

Starveling — a tailor who plays ‘Moonshine’ (Faith Canipe). 

Ladies of the Court — (Shiloh Russell, Selah Russell).

Pages — (Madeline Cheek, Annabelle Hanson, Annie Windsor, Ella Weiner).

Fairy Court

Oberon — King of the Fairies  (Landon Allmon).

Titania — Queen of the Fairies (Payton Staley). 

Puck — Oberon’s knavish sprite (Claire Evavold).

Attendants to Oberon— Olive (Murphy Grace Harting); Sage (Aurora Vaughan); Huckleberry (Ella Weiner); Basil (Madeline Cheek). Attendants to Titania — Ivy (Avery Martin); Fern (Bethany Cagle); Moss (Kellan Auman); Magnolia (Selah Russell); Periwinkle (Shiloh Russel); Marigold (Annie Windsor); Lavender (Blair Phillips); and Milkweed (Josephine Gaukstern). 

Royal Court Attendant — (Rett Coco). 

Singers of Titania’s Court — Moth (Ava Thompson); Cobweb (Abby Vespa); Mustardseed (Gretchen Phipps), Peaseblossom (Gracie Gonzalez); Lavender – dances and sings (Blair Phipps); and Milkweed (Josephine Gaukstern.

The character of Dreamer (Katie Vespa) is not original to the play. She smooths the play along and makes the sense of the piece more apparent. 

We invite you to enter this venerable realm of imagination to observe with wonder how powerful this cast is. This is one good way for young people to meet the classics head-on at full force under strong guidance and with much mirth. Modern young people are allowed to experience mirth, aren’t they?