The Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival is proud to present a special online reading of Jeff Whitty's adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, in collaboration with Play On Shakespeare!
Originally commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Midsummer will be directed by Lavina Jadhwani as the culmination of NDSF's summer of online performances, classes, and panel discussions.
This Midsummer reading features Sarah Scanlon, Ariel in the NDSF 2016 production of The Tempest, and Cameron Knight, director of NDSF's 2018 production of Othello and star of NDSF 2017's production of Much Ado About Nothing. Titania and Bottom will be read by Chicago-based actors Susaan Jamshidi and Jason Goff, and Helena will be read by Nemuna Ceesay.
Whitty, whose text is the basis of this reading, is an Academy Award-nominated and Tony Award-winning playwright (Avenue Q), screenwriter, and actor.
Premiering August 28, 2020 at 7pm EDT, the reading will be available on the Shakespeare at Notre Dame YouTube channel for four days only. The performance is FREE; donations will benefit the Paul Rathburn Fund supporting NDSF
artists. The Festival's founder and original Producing Artistic Director, Dr. Paul Rathburn passed away February 12. The reading celebrates his legacy, and takes place on his birthday weekend.
The Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival exists to enrich on-campus and surrounding communities and in the summer of 2020 celebrated the award of two prominent grants: the Play On Shakespeare! reading and another from the National Endowment for the Arts Shakespeare in American Communities: Juvenile Justice.
Click here to make a donation to the Paul Rathburn Fund.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...
ShowTunes Shakespeare Shakespeare in a Time of Plague The Cheryl and Scotty Show
Miss out on an event?
Don't worry. The complete NDSF 2020 event lineup will be available on our YouTube page through July 2021:
- Laban for Shakespeare Performance – Cheryl Turski leads an hourlong workshop in Laban for Shakespeare Performance
- Scenes from Macbeth – The DePaul Academy Shakespeare Squad perform scenes from Shakespeare's powerful tragedy Macbeth
- The Taming of the Shrew Watch Party – Enjoy a live Q&A with cast members of the Robinson Shakespeare Company's at-home performance of The Taming of the Shrew.
- Iambic Pentameter Made Marvelous – Christy Burgess walks you through the basics of iambic pentameter.
- Voice and Text Workshop – Stanton Davis, Head of BFA Performance at Northern Illinois University, leads a workshop on voicing Shakespeare's text for a modern audience
- Intimacy Direction Workshop – Multidisciplinary actor and artist Sarah Scanlon hosts an exclusive workshop on intimacy direction.
- Fee Fie Faux Wood (Scenic Artist Workshop) – NDSF Scenic Artist Scott Gerwitz shows you how to make faux wood for onstage use
- Stage Management Workshop – NDSF General Manager Debra Gasper hosts a workshop on the invisible art of professional stage management.
- The Cheryl and Scotty Show – NDSF veterans Cheryl Turski and Scotty Arnold take a delightful journey through the music of NDSF seasons past.
- Professional Acting in Chicago and Beyond – Susaan Jamshidi leads a discussion about professional acting opportunities in Chicago and beyond.
- Kundalini and Pranayama for the Actor – Shakespeare at Notre Dame's Scott Jackson hosts a workshop on Kundalini yoga with actors in mind.
- Shakespeare in a Time of Plague – Notre Dame’s Early Modern Circle discusses how Shakespeare used plays to think about pandemics – and how we use Shakespeare to do the same.
- Shakespeare's Coriolanus - Reading – The Not-So-Royal Shakespeare Company presents a new reading of Shakespeare's powerful tragedy Coriolanus.
- ShowTunes Shakespeare – Art 4 presents a special performance of songs from and inspired by Shakespeare.