All Events »

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

September 8 @ 6:30 pm

Naire Poole leans on a balcony, laughing, in Romeo and Juliet. Press photo courtesy of Shakespeare & Company.
Photo by Katie McKellick

Athenians mix it up with the forest fairies in this raucous romp that features magical meddling, romantic tangles, and a play within a play … One of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream has been described by scholars as carnivalesque: pushing the plot forward through humor and chaos.

Performances will run August 1 to September 10, Tuesday to Sunday at 6:30 p.m. in The New Spruce Theatre.

Get tickets »

William Shakespeare
Playwright

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. His works, including some collaborations, consist of about 37 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Allyn Burrows
Director

Pronouns: he / him

S&Co: Director: The Tempest (2017), As You Like It (2018), Twelfth Night (2019). Shakespeare & Company performances: A Walk in the Woods, King Lear, God of Carnage, Or, King John, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry IV Part 1, among others. As Artistic Director of Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Allyn directed and acted in numerous productions. Other Boston area performances include Can You Forgive Her (Huntington Theatre), Breaking the Code (Underground Railway Theatre), Shipwrecked (The Lyric Stage), The Seafarer and The Homecoming (Merrimack Repertory Theater), Five by Tenn (Speakeasy Stage). Elliot Norton Award for The Homecoming, King Lear, Five by Tenn; IRNE Award for Breaking the Code. Off-Broadway: Bug, Killer Joe, Louis Slotin Sonata, Closetland. Regionally: Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theatre, Long Wharf, Denver Center, Walnut St. Television: “The Broad Squad,” “Law and Order,” “Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” “Against the Law.” Films include The Company Men, Julie & Julia, Manchester by the Sea, and Don’t Look Up.

Elizabeth Aspenlieder
Titania; Director of Sponsorships, Groups & Special Events

S&Co: Over 40 productions: The Approach, The Waverly Gallery, HIR, God of Carnage; Mother of the Maid (pre–Broadway, originated Lady of the Court); Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; The Beauty Queen of Leenane; Parasite Drag; Merry Wives of Windsor; The Winter’s Tale; Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Bad Dates (Elliot Norton Award Best Solo Performance); Rough Crossing; King Lear; Richard III, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (final performance at The Mount). Regional: Silverthorne Theatre: The Cake; Great Barrington Public Theatre: Queen of the Sea, Wet Ink reading series; Simon’s Rock: The House of Bernarda Alba; Oldcastle: The Consul, The Tramp & America’s Sweetheart, The Lion in Winter; Barrington Stage: 10X10 Play Fest; Merrimack Rep: Bad Dates; Boston Theatre Works: Angels in America, Othello. Berkshire Playwrights Lab: Radius series, Gala’s etc.; Directing: Merchant of Venice (Assistant Dir, Tina Packer Dir.). Indy Films: Trigger Finger; Seriously Twisted. Voice Over actor/producer: TV, cartoons, radio, and the audiobooks: Choosing Joy: Alzheimer’s — a Book of Hope; and Peregrine Island.) Producer Feature films: Cold Wallet (in post w/ Joshua Brener), Onyx The Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls (2023 Sundance, BIFF, etc.); The Secret Art of Human Flight (2023 Tribeca FF, w/ Lucy DeVito, Paul Raci); Skelly (in post w/ Brian Cox, Torrey DeVitto, John Palladino); I’m Not Him (Amazon Prime w/ John Palladino); Stroke of Luck (Netflix w/ John Popper). Theatre Producer: Rhinoceros (w/ Chris Noth, The Cutting Room NYC), Living the Dream (by Mark Roberts, reading series 52nd Street Project). Lizzy’s performance is dedicated to Tina Packer, mentor, confident, inspiration, and kick-ass girlfriend!

Sheila Bandyopadhyay
Puck; Director of Actor Training; Associate Director

Pronouns she / her

Sheila Bandyopadhyay is a multi-hyphenate theater artist who, after 18 years in Brooklyn, NY, is delighted to be marking her first year as Shakespeare & Company’s Director of the Center of Actor Training. Movement Direction: Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare & Company); Macbeth (The Humanist Project); Mother Courage and her Children, The Cherry Orchard (American Academy of Dramatic Arts Company); Hamlet, Measure for Measure (NYU Gallatin); Twelfth Night (FSU Conservatory/Asolo Rep). In New York, Sheila has directed shows at the Brick, the United Solo Festival (Theater Row), the Tank, the Women in Theater Festival (the Gural), the West End Theater, and the 72nd St Theater Lab. Favorite roles include Stephano in The Tempest (Stages on the Sound), Tamora in Titus Andronicus (The Humanist Project) and Bianca/Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew (Tempest Ladies). Sheila is a proud member of the Humanist Project and a sponsored artist with Leviathan Lab.

Javier David
Theseus / Flute

Javier David is excited to be making Shakespeare & Company debut! He is a California-born-and-raised actor based in New York City. Credits include: Clyde’s (The Huntington Theatre), Do You Feel Anger?, (Kitchen Theater Company), Witch (The Huntington Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Classical Theatre of Harlem), A Dollzes House (Signature Theatre), Cold Read Festival (Syracuse Stage), The Rocky Horror Show (Artist Repertory Theatre), Almost, Maine (L.A. Theatre Center), Commedia (Atelier Teatro Fisico), In The Red And Brown Water (Columbia University), A Street Car Named Desire (Columbia University), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Columbia University). Film: The Changeling (Apple TV). Javier received his M.F.A in Acting from Columbia University (2019) and his B.A. in Theatre with an emphasis in Performance from San Diego State University (2016).

Gina Fonseca
First Fairy / Philostrate / Snug

Pronouns she / her

Gina Fonseca is a Cuban-American actor and creative based in NYC. Previous credits: Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare & Company), Witch (Huntington Theatre Company); Fade (Kitchen Theatre Company); Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (Florida Premiere, Zoetic Stage at The Adrienne Arsht Center); Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (Workshop Premiere, Off the Grid Theatre Company); Photograph 51, Antigone, Time Stands Still, The Clean House, Measure for Measure (Boston University); The Tempest (Shakespeare Academy @Stratford); BFA Acting, Boston University. ginafonseca.com

Nigel Gore
Oberon

S&Co, recent: Leonato, Much Ado About Nothing; Gloucester, King Lear; Prospero, The Tempest; Belarius/Doctor, Cymbeline; Falstaff Merry Wives; George, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Elliot Norton Award, Outstanding Actor) at the Public Theatre Boston. Off-Broadway: Voltaire Emilie with Duende; Dr. Rank, A Doll’s House; Ostermark, The Father; at TFANA. Pickering, Pygmalion; Col. Brandon, Sense & Sensibility; Dorn, The Seagull with Bedlam. Regional: Killigrew, Nell Gwynn; Enobarbus, Antony & Cleopatra at The Folger in DC. Richard, Richard III (Westword Denver; Best Actor); Bottom, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Macbeth, Macbeth at Colorado Shakes. Squeers/Hawk, Nicholas Nickleby at The Lyric, Boston. Lyman Felt, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan at Oldcastle, VT: Scrooge, Christmas Carol; Caesar, Julius Caesar; Orlando Shakes. Brutus, Julius Caesar at Prague Shakes. Women of Will: USA, World Tour. TV & Film: Bedlam: The Series, Cold Wallet.

Blake Hamilton Currie
Demetrius

Blake Hamilton Currie is incredibly excited to be making his Shakespeare & Company debut! Blake is an actor based out of Chicago, Illi., and is a recent graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University, having received his Master of Fine Arts degree in acting this past summer. Some of his most recent theatre credits include: Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It (Tennessee Shakespeare Company) TopDog/UnderDog, Three Antarcticas, Sweat, Do You Feel Anger? (The Theatre School of DePaul) and the world premiere play Buried Deep (Endstation Theatre).

Sara Linares
Helena

Pronouns she / ella

Sara is a bilingual bird from the Tropic of Cancer so she’s thankful for the opportunity to soar to new heights in the Berkshires! She graduated in 2019 with an MFA from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training and dove right into a national tour with American Shakespeare Center that same year. During the pandemic, she continued performing via Zoom and started training in Intimacy Direction. Sara has proudly been an educator here for the last few years and she’s very excited for her main stage debut! “If I be waspish, best beware my sting.” Follow her on IG: saralinares_actor and check out her website: saralinaresactor.com

Carlos Olmedo
Lysander

Carlos Olmedo is an actor from Chicago, IL. Recent credits include: United Flight 232 (House Theatre of Chicago); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), and you may have seen him with a dart in his forehead on Season 7, Episode 8 of Chicago Fire. He wouldn’t be here without his loving wife, mom and all those who supported him along the way.

Naire Poole
Hermia

Naire Poole is fresh off of her performance as Juliet (Romeo & Juliet) in Shakespeare & Company’s Northeast Regional Tour. Select credits include: Theater: Margaret/the Sexton Much Ado About Nothing, Elizabeth Darcy The Wickams: Christmas at Pemberly, Hamlet Hamlet, three hang, Macy The Cake, Antigone Antigone, Dave Moss Glengarry Glenross, Francine/Lena Clybourne Park. Bella For the People’s Good. Film: Andrea (Lead) Wet Things, Hermia (Lead) A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Veterinarian (supporting) George. She has a hunger for exploring work of challenging societal structures. When she isn’t tackling work that explores the complexity of interpersonal expansion through her performances, she is directing and teaching, ablaze to adjust theatrical structures into inclusive, healing, and transcendent spaces. She’s currently failing at learning electric guitar with joy; grounded by family and lifted by friends. salu. blm.

Madeleine Rose Maggio
Hippolyta / MECHANICAL

Pronouns she / her

S&Co: Don John, Much Ado About Nothing; Cassie, The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley, Ensemble: Shakespeare and the Language that Shaped a World, Marianne Dashwood: Sense & Sensibility; Robert Shallow/Bardolph: Merry Wives; Elizabeth Bennet: Pride & Prejudice; Longaville/Jaquenetta, Love’s Labor’s Lost; Elizabeth Darcy, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley; Helena/Cobweb, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; S&Co Regional Tour: Lady Capulet/ Benvolio, Romeo & Juliet; The Humanist Project: Lavinia, Titus Andronicus. Madeleine is proud of her work as an education artist in the Fall Festival of Shakespeare, and Shakespeare & Young Company. She attended the two-year professional course at L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and studied at The Second City in Chicago.

Michael F. Toomey
Egeus / Peter Quince

Pronouns he / him

Michael F. Toomey is a neurodivergent performer and Theater creator. He is the Artistic Director of The Humanist Project based in Brooklyn and founding member of Split Knuckle Theatre, which devises new works that have toured from Bangkok to Buenos Aires. S&Co roles include: Serg (ART), Puck (Midsummer), Poet (An Iliad), Bassinet (Ladies Man), Scapan (title role), Walter (Split Knuckle’s Endurance). Various Roles NYC: Francis (Francis Goes To War), Francis (Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle). Michael’s childhood passion for The Muppets and Looney Tunes has served as the basis of his adult obsession with Clowning and comic structure. He teaches Clowning in NYC. He studied with Clown masters Philippe Gaulier and Giovanni Fusetti. Graduated from LISPA and holds an MFA in Lecoq-based Theatre. Michael lives in Brooklyn with his wife Sarah and son August. Michaelftoomey.com. Career goal: Recenter play, pleasure and laughter in a world that takes itself very seriously.

Jacob Ming-Trent
Bottom

TV: White Famous, Showtime (series regular), Watchmen, HBO (series regular), Ray Donovan, Showtime (Recurring), Feed the Beast, AMC (recurring). Also seen on, Only Murders in the Building, WU-TANG: An American Saga, New Amsterdam, God Friended Me, High Maintenance, and several more. Film: Superfly, Forty-year-old Version, Snakes, R#J, Possession of Hannah Grace, The Bygone, Julie Taymour’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, and others. Broadway: Shrek the Musical (Original cast), Hands on a Hardbody, (Original Cast). Off Broadway: The Harder They Come, Public Theatre, Lortel nomination Alchemist, Mammon, Redbull theater, Lortel nomination Merry Wives, Falstaff, Public theater, Drama Desk nomination Father Comes Home from the Wars, Public theater, Lortel Award. Twelfth Night, Sir Toby, Public Theater. Cymbeline, Public Theater. Mother Courage, CSC. Merchant of Venice, TFANA. Midsummer Night’s Dream, TFANA. Widowers Houses, Epic Theater Ensemble. Tempest, Public Theater. On the Levee, Lincoln Center.

Ariel Bock
Vocal Coach

S&Co: Acting: Duke (Measure for Measure), Rose (The Children), Mom (Ugly Lies the Bone); Mistress Quickly (Henry IV Pts. 1 & 2); Goneril (King Lear); Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing); Elizabeth (Richard III); Audrey (As You Like It); Hippolyta (Midsummer Night’s Dream); The Nurse (Romeo and Juliet); Mistress Quickly (Merry Wives of Windsor); Paulina (The Winter’s Tale), Ruth (Private Eyes), The Woman (Laughing Wild); Arlene (Off the Map) Directing: Miss Bennet, Christmas at Pemberley; The Wickhams, Christmas at Pemberley; Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility. At Mixed Company: Ramona (Zara Spook and Other Lures) and Eileen (The Cripple of Inishmaan). With the Ensemble for the Romantic Century in NYC: Nadezhda VonMeck (None But the Lonely Heart), as well as Fanny Mendelsohn, Emily Dickinson, Sonia Tolstoy, and Anna Akhmatova (in multiple shows). Ariel is a Designated Linklater Teacher.

Brendan F. Doyle
Sound Designer

Pronouns he / him

Brendan F Doyle is a sound designer, engineer, and artisan working primarily in live performance applications: theatrical sound design, live music, and bespoke audio objects. He holds a MSC in Sound Design from the University of Edinburgh, and a BFA in Theatre Design and Technology from Emerson College. His work has been heard in bars, basements, chapels, and concert halls: He has also worked in theatres, at improvised venues of all sorts, and across the internet. Previous projects with Shakespeare & Company include Hymn, The Approach, hang, Art, Topdog/Underdog, The Waverly Gallery, and Macbeth. He is a proud member of United Scenic Artists Local USA 829.

Dennis Ebert Jr.
Assistant Stage Manager

Pronouns he / him

Dennis is a New York-based Stage Manager and graduate of Pace University, having received a BA in Stage Management. He is stoked to be returning to Shakespeare & Company for another season. Previous S&Co credits include Golden Leaf Ragtime Blues, hang, Coriolanus, The Waverly Gallery and others.

Stella Giulietta Schwartz
Costume Designer

Pronouns she / her

S&Co: Costume Designer for Plays in Process Series (2022), Art (2021), Topdog/Underdog (2019), Morning After Grace and Mothers and Sons (2018), 4000 Miles (2017), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2016), The Unexpected Man (2015), The Servant of Two Masters (2014) and Les Faux Pas (2013); Costumer for S&Co’s Education Program, 2011–2018. Recent design credits include Disgraced (Chester Theatre), The Aliens (Chester Theatre), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (BCC Players), Twelfth Night (Pittsfield Shakespeare in the Park) and The Last Wife (WAM Theatre). In addition to Costume Design, Stella also enjoys teaching English to her multilingual students at Taconic High School in Pittsfield, MA.

Diane Healy
Stage Manager

S&Co: (just a few) King Lear, Merry Wives, As You Like It, The Tempest, Red Velvet, Women of Will, Satchmo at the Waldorf, Hound of the Baskervilles, All’s Well That Ends Well. Diane is a NY based SM who has worked (extensively) with BEDLAM: Fall River Fishing, The Winter’s Tale, Hedda Gabler, Persuasion, The Crucible, Sense & Sensibility, Saint Joan, Hamlet, Pygmalion, Peter Pan, Cry Havoc!, Twelfth Night/What You Will. Also in NY with: TFANA, NAATCO, Clubbed Thumb, Radical Evolution/WP Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Mabou Mines; Primary Stages; Playwrights Realm; Barrow Street Theatre; Atlantic Theatre Co., LCT3, LaMama, The Civilians. Regionally: Baltimore Center Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Folger Theatre, Oldcastle Theatre Company, Princeton University, Bard College and East Tennessee State.

Nicole Ricciardi
Associate Director
Pronouns she / her

S&Co: King Lear, Time Stands Still, Creditors, 4000 Miles, The Taming, The How and the Why, and Cassandra Speaks. She has directed, developed, and assisted productions at Third Avenue Playhouse, Youngblood/Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Flea, Primary Stages, the Drama Book Shop, Chelsea Repertory Lab, Circle East, Bushwick Arts, Central Square Theatre, Two River Theater Company, Berkshire Playwrights Lab, Shadow Lawn Stage, and the Irish Repertory Theatre. She is on the faculty of The Theatre School at DePaul. MFA, Carnegie Mellon University.

Kathleen H. Soltan
Assistant Stage Manager
Pronouns she / her

Kathleen H. Soltan is a Philadelphia based Stage Manager and Creator. Selected Theatre Credits: King Lear, The Waverly Gallery, Macbeth with Shakespeare & Company, I Do! I Do! with Purple Crayon Productions, Cadillac Crew, Kamloopa with WAM Theater Company, Noises Off!, Othello, The Birds, The Handmaid’s Tale with CurioTheatre Company. Selected Training: BA Theater Temple University. Creative Inspiration: Kathleen is dedicated to providing and promoting safe spaces for all Performers, Designers, and Artistic Creators. Special thanks to Diane and Hope, the cast and crew, and to SPF 50!

Jim Youngerman
Set Designer
Jim is a visual artist who has exhibited his paintings throughout the U.S. & Europe. Theater credits; Great Barrington Public Theater – Public Speaking 101. Shakespeare & Co. credits include – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Approach, King Lear, As You Like It, The Tempest, The Hound of the Baskervilles, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (S&Co at The Mount), Romeo & Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Merchant of Venice, Summer, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Ethan Frome, Laughing Wild. Odyssey Theater, L.A. – The Man Who Killed the Buddha (award winning). Barrington Stage – Killer’s Head, The Dumbwaiter. Bard College – Vinegar Tom. Berkshire Public Theatre – Carousel, Angel City, Tongues, Savage Love, Just Passing Thru. Jim’s artwork can be viewed at his website – jimyoungerman.com

By the Way Berkshires is a digital magazine exploring creative life and community — art and performance, food and the outdoors — and I’m writing it for you, with local voices, because I’ve gotten to know this rich part of the world as a writer and journalist, and I want to share it with you.

If you’d like to see the website grow, you can join me for a few dollars a month, enough for a cup of coffee and a cider doughnut. Members get access to extra stories and multimedia, itineraries a bookmark tool. Let me know what you're looking for, and we’ll explore together.

Event Details

Details

Date:
September 8
Time:
6:30 pm
Event Categories:
, ,

Event Location

Shakespeare & Company
70 Kemble St.
Lenox, MA
413-637-3353

Browse Events

Calendar of Events

M Mon

T Tue

W Wed

T Thu

F Fri

S Sat

S Sun

2 events,

2 events,

5 events,

9 events,

18 events,

23 events,

18 events,

2 events,

2 events,

5 events,

7 events,

11 events,

31 events,

-

Holiday Shindy

17 events,

5 events,

4 events,

8 events,

8 events,

13 events,

26 events,

19 events,

4 events,

4 events,

9 events,

6 events,

11 events,

7 events,

3 events,

1 event,

6 events,

7 events,

9 events,

9 events,

-

Kids can cook

9 events,

8 events,