The University of Maine at Presque Isle is proud to present Shakespeare & Company for a one-night-only performance of the Bard’s beloved comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Friday, March 29 at 7 p.m. in the Gauvin Family Center for Cultural Arts, located in Wieden Hall. Troupe members will provide a short talk-back for the audience after the show. All campus and community members are invited to attend this special, free admission event.
Founded in 1978, Shakespeare & Company is one of the country’s largest and best-known Shakespeare Festivals, operating year-round and welcoming more than 60,000 patrons annually to its performance space in Lenox, Massachusetts. The Company is also home to an award-winning and nationally recognized theatre-in-education program; as the largest one in the Northeast, it reaches more than 40,000 students annually with innovative performances, workshops, and residencies.
“The University is so pleased to be bringing Shakespeare & Company back to Presque Isle, for the first time since 2016, for a very special performance of one of Shakespeare’s much-loved comedies,” UMPI President Ray Rice said. “The northern Maine community is in for a wonderful treat and what is sure to be a delightful evening, and we highly encourage everyone to make plans to attend.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy full of tricks, romantic tangles, and magic. The play follows four young Athenians as they run away into the forest in their quests for love, only to learn that love at first sight might not be their best plan. Along the way, there is mischief afoot for a fairy queen, antics from a very amateur group of thespians, and a royal wedding to boot.
This performance is part of Shakespeare & Company’s Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare, underway this spring. The Northeast Regional Tour is one of the many education programs offered as part of the Company’s theater-in-education program, which has been identified by the MacArthur Foundation, the GE Foundation, and The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities as a “Champion of Change.”
For more information about Shakespeare & Company, visit the website at www.shakespeare.org. For more information about the play at UMPI, please call 207-768-9593 or e-mail angelita.hernandez@maine.edu.
