A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, directed by Kirsten Brandt, Utah Shakespeare Festival

THE DESIGN TEAM: Scenic design by Jason Lajka, Costume design by Brenda Van Der Wiel, Lighting design by Kirk Bookman, Sound/Music Score by Barry G. Funderburg, Dramaturgy by Lezlie Cross, Voice/Text Coach Philip Thompson, Movement and Fight Choreographer Robert Westely, Stage Manager Terence Orleans Alexander.

THE CAST:   J Todd Adams, Melinda Parrett, Riley Shanahan, Marco Antonio Vega, Kaitlin Margaret Mills, Cassandra Bissell, Paul Sandberg, Kelly Rogers, Joanna Howe, Jane Stavros, Madison Kisst, Eric Schabla, Taylor Harris, Melissa Graves, Andrew May, James Newcomb, Ella the dog

PRESS:

… director Kirsten Brandt brings it all together for a production that pivots on perfection…This play is truly “a most rare vision.” Describing its beauty and brilliance may be “past the wit of man” but this critic will warily attempt to do so… -The Spectrum

…director Kirsten Brandt goes beyond surface attitude by re-creating the frenzied pacing and dizzy business typical of silver-screen screwball comedies of the ’30s. –Las Vegas Review-Journal

From the get-go it is clear that Utah Shake’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was guided by a strong directorial vision. Placing Shakespeare’s plays in various times and settings can come off really well or can seem needlessly artificial, but director Kirsten Brandt’s proof was in the pudding with this dazzling production that envisions the fairies and their unwitting experiments in human love in the roaring 1920s. All bubbly champagne, dazzling clothes, and art-deco-visual-pop, it’s an inspired choice to place such a whimsical play in….It is easily one of my favorite—if not the favorite—version of the play I have personally seen. – Front Row Reviews Utah

Photos by Karl Hugh. Copyright Utah Shakespeare Festival 2017.