The Cuesta College Drama Department will present its debut student production titled “A Midsemester Night’s Mashup.” Created in collaboration with the students, as well as director Ben Abbott, the production will be at the Harold J. Miossi Cultural and Performing Arts Center (CPAC) from Thursday, Oct. 3 through Sunday, Oct. 13.
Based on a Shakespearean play, students and crew of the performance add twists to the well-known story, making it unlike any Shakespeare retelling before.
“It’s a comedic take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” said Alexa Owen, a theater major and production cast member. “The premise starts with a bunch of college students in a class who are about to fail, and they are given one last chance to pass the class, by giving a performance.”
The students of the production are not only acting and working behind the scenes but have brainstormed, created and refined the story as well.
“This is a devised piece of theater,” Director Ben Abbott said. “ I came in with the concept ‘What if a group of college students who have not read ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ have to perform it?.’ With that concept, we broke up into groups and played and improvised all different types of styles and genres. Then we would refine those down, and record them. From there I would take those recordings and turn them into a script.”
Students were also very excited to take part in the creation process.
“It’s very unique,” said actor Amy Bowersox. “ I’ve never been a part of a collaborative play like this before, and there’s nothing really like it.”
As the actors were wrapping up their last days of rehearsal, they expressed their favorite moments about working in the production, and why students should come see the play.
“My favorite thing about the behind-the-scenes work was coming up with the initial ideas of what we’re actually going to be doing with Midsummer Night’s Dream,” said actor Brandon Garcia. “It was a lot of improv and collaboration. It was really fun to see what ideas we had, and mess around with them.”
Members of the stage crew also shared about the process of creating this production.
“I love the creativity, and I love everybody’s input going into the process. What you end up with is definitely not what you started with and that’s the fun of devised theater” said Ryan Flores, a faculty member and lighting designer of the production. “I think students should come and see this play because it really speaks to people working as a group very seamlessly. It shows sound, lighting, actors, set, direction – everything coming together in perfect harmony. I think it exposes people to the arts in a very rounded-out way.”
The student actors also talk about loving the rehearsals and the connections made throughout the process.
“My favorite part about joining and creating this play is being around the people and getting to know them,” said Ben Mozart, an actor and cinematography major. “The community overall is great.”
The actors also shared why students should come and see the play.
“It’s just a lot of fun to watch us put this play on,” said Carter Paisano, an actor and marine biology major. “We sometimes make a fool of ourselves, but it’s worth it in the end.”
The students and crew of the performance are excited to have the Cuesta and San Luis Obispo communities come to see the first production this fall. Everyone is encouraged to grab tickets early before night performances sell out.
“It’s a blast. It’s off-the-wall bonkers, fun and a hilarious show,” Abbott said. “It also came from students, so other students can resonate with it because the people who came up with it are their peers.”
To get tickets for “A Midsemester Night’s Mashup,” go to Cuesta College’s CPAC website. The show starts Thursday, October 3.
Editor’s Note: In the original article, the play was misidentified. The Cuestonian has corrected the error and regrets this mistake.
