Thursday, Nov. 10 marked the opening night of Briar Woods’ fall theater production, with this year’s play being one of Shakespeare’s well known comedies,  A Midsummer Night’s Dream. According to Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the premise of the play is “four [Athenian lovers] run away to the forest only to have Puck the fairy make both of the boys fall in love with the same girl. The four run through the forest pursuing each other while Puck helps his master play a trick on the fairy queen. In the end, Puck reverses the magic, and the two couples reconcile and marry.” 

Any theatrical production requires immense preparation, and this was no exception. “We did a lot of exercises like how would your character walk, [or] how they would feel in the moment. We also did a lot of prep with the Shakespeare language and meaning, ” said Heather Wise, who played the role as a fairy in the play. Without a doubt, the long nights of rehearsal brought the cast together in ways that touched them deeply. “My favorite part [of rehearsal] was bonding with the people, building the set with them, and celebrating with them. [It] was amazing and it was a wonderful show” said Wise. It truly is incredible to see how one common cause brings people together in ways like no other scenario. 

With the blood, sweat, and tears that were behind the scenes of producing the play, the actors and crewmates are especially content with how their efforts paid off. “It was so cool to see how everything paid off at the end, it felt amazing when all the emotions were poured into the words and the meaning came together. It was so cool and all the actors did such a good job” said Wise. 

“It was so cool to see the months of work we put into the play finally come together in the performances,” said Emilia Battaglia, who played the role of Puck’s apprentice in the play. Battaglia was originally destined to be a fairy in the play, but with a change made by the director, she was given the role she played as Puck’s apprentice. “It turns out that this role was perfect for me, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” said Battaglia. 

With all the time spent that goes into producing a play, everyone learns something new along the way. “I learned to be more confident on stage and to be able to feel more natural on stage. Watching and getting the feedback of the upperclassmen, especially [the actress of] Puck, really helped me to be able to get out of my comfort zone and become a stronger actor,” said Battaglia. 

Of course, the audiences viewing each of the performances were amazed by the production too. “The fact that they were able to not only memorize but also recite dialogue written in prose in a way that allowed the audience to understand what the characters were saying [was what stood out to me],” said an anonymous audience member. 

After all the stress and countless hours of practice that went into the production, it’s all done and the cast finally gets to catch a break. These incredibly talented people came together to put on an outstanding performance, and they are exceedingly proud of their efforts, just as they should be.