A Midsummer Night's Dream
and three World Premieres
VMA Arts & Cultural Center            
May 2,3& 4, 2003

A Midsummer Night's Dream, originally choreographed by Christine Hennessy, one of the co-founders of Festival Ballet, is being re-staged by her daughter, Elizabeth DeFanti.

The King and Queen of Fairyland, Oberon and Titania, are quarreling over the changeling Indian boy. Oberon sends his sprite Puck through the forest to fetch a strange flower, the juice of which – when dropped in the eyes during sleep – brings love for the first living thing seen upon waking.  Oberon plans to use this magical liquid to spite Titania.

Meanwhile, a happy pair of lovers, Lysander and Hermia, and their two unhappy friends, Helena and Demetrius, have strayed into the forest. Helena’s love for Demetrius is, at present, unrequited for he desires Hermia. Oberon has watched these confused mortals and sends Puck with some of the flower’s juice to charm Demetrius into falling in love with Helena.

Oberon, in the meantime, drops some of the charm into his queen’s eyes and causes her to be awakened by a peasant named Bottom on whom Puck, to heighten his master’s revenge, has fixed an ass’s head. On waking, Titania falls in love with Bottom. But Puck, for all his cleverness, has complicated the affairs of the mortal lovers by charming the wrong man, Lysander, into falling in love with Helena. Oberon commands Puck to create a fog, under cover of which all is put right. Titania, released from her spell, is reconciled to her king and the mortal lovers are happily paired off. Bottom, restored to human form but with dream-like memories of what happened, goes on his puzzled way and Puck induces the fairies to sleep.