Photo Flash: First Look at A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at Shakespeare on the Sound

Shakespeare on the Sound (Claire Shannon Kelly, Artisitic Director and Christine Larsen, Managing Director) celebrate its 23rd season with Shakespeare's beloved comedy A Midsummer Night Dream, directed by Artistic Director? Claire Shannon Kelly. Set in the Jane Austen time period, audiences will be transported into a magical forest where they will embark on a sentimental quest together with Shakespeare's iconic characters. Performances began on Thursday, June 14 in Pinkney Park (177 Rowayton Avenue, Norwalk, CT) and will continue through July 1. OPENING NIGHT is TONIGHT, Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.

"I am delighted that we are bringing A Midsummer Night's Dream to Pinkney Park this June," says Ms. Kelly, whose focus for this production is the exploration of love. "At the start of the play, each character is experiencing some form of idealized love: romantic, love of a parent for a child, or a passion for creating art," she explains. "Over the course of the play each character's idealized love is challenged and tested to the breaking point, for, only by experiencing extreme hardship is true love clearly revealed."

Together with the design team, Ms. Kelly re-structures the world of Athens to reflect the Regency time period. Capturing the look of a formal drawing room leading into a rigid English garden, the set features a larger than life forest with giant flowers, acorns, and tree roots that will make the audience feel that they too have shrunk to the size of a fairy. The characters are also channeling various species of birds that Ms. Kelly encountered during her world travels: Puck, a mischievous fairy who often shape shifts and mimics other voices based the Australian Lyre bird that can mirror sounds from car alarms to other animals. Oberon, King of the fairies, is based on a peacock, and Titania, Queen of the fairies, the African lilac breasted roller.

A Midsummer Night's Dream will feature an ensemble cast including Will Adams, Roberta Aherns, Leo Bevilacqua, Winsome Brown, Meredith Casey, John Hardin, Wynn Harmon, Brandon Mendez Homer, Lorenzo Jackson, Henry Jenkinson, Lily Lipman, Kristen Misthopoulus, Andrew Mount, Sebastian Roy, Rachael Schefrin, Graham Stevens, Anne Whitaker and Jae Woo.

The creative team for A Midsummer Night Dream is comprised of Brian Prather (scenic design), Elivia Bovenzi (costume design), Jamie Roderick (lighting design), Emily Auciello (sound design), Rod Kinter (fight direction), Dianna Cortez (vocal coach), Maia Robbins-Zust (technical director), Sultana Gardizi (casting director) and Ed Herman (production stage manager). This year's production is being produced in association with Plan Bee Collective - Allison Bressi and Nicole Martorana.

A Midsummer Night's Dream begins performances June 14 and continues through July 1. The production runs Tuesdays through Sundays at 7:30PM. The box office opens at 3:30pm and the park opens at 4pm.

Every night at 6:30pm, one hour in advance of the main stage production, there will be a special 30-minute A Midsummer Night's Dream for Kids presentation for children performed by the Apprentice Company.

Admission for Tuesday and Wednesday performances is a suggested donation of $20 (adults) and $10 (students and seniors).

Admission for performances on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday is $20 (adults) and $10 (seniors and students).

Reserved seating is available for $50 at every performance and children 12 and under are FREE.

Tickets and reserved seats are available at www.shakespeareonthesound.org.

Photo Credit: FADI ACRA