The production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at W.H. Croxford High School in Airdrie has more than just the drama students participating this year.
The dinner theatre – set to run on April 6 and 7 – is made possible by students focused on drama, production, culinary, and even construction.
W.H. Croxford drama and dance teacher Marcy Rogers said the play itself has a cast of 21 actors, but there is a crew of 16 additional students working behind the scenes, helping with set-up and show production.
On top of that, the culinary students are putting their creative minds together to curate the two dinners, while the construction students got to work to produce the perfect set.
“We're a cast of 21 but that's just the starting point. We have so many students involved,” Rogers said.
“It's really become a whole school initiative. Our culinary arts students and team prepared the dinner and they planned a themed menu with our chefs.”
The meal will feature courses that tie into the play, with a chocolate mousse as dessert featuring butterflies on it, Rogers said.
The play takes place in the enchanted woods of Athens, Greece, which required the set to feature a forest. The construction students built a towering tree that is the centerpiece of the entire set.
The play marks the triumphant return of drama productions for the high school, which wasn’t able to put on any drama production in the last two years due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The two dinner theatres have limited tickets available for the cast's families, and other students at W.H. Croxford will have a chance to see the play during several matinee shows the following week.
“As we continue and hopefully after the great success of this year, we'll be able to look at maybe doing some dinner theatre and some public performances as well,” Rogers said.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of William Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies and Rogers felt it was a good idea to stage this particular play, as everybody needed a little bit of laughter, love, and magic in their lives.
“So truly, it felt like a great piece to return with,” she said.
The play is also part of the Grade 9 curriculum, which means the entire English department has taught A Midsummer Night’s Dream to their Grade 9 classes, she added. The matinee shows next week will provide a great way for students to see something they’ve been studying come to life.
Rogers said the rehearsals have been going really well and pieces are coming together slowly. With multiple story lines, the students don’t always rehearse the play in its entirety, which makes it more exciting in the final week to see how the show actually flows.
“Last week was our tech week, so we had multiple run-throughs and then tomorrow we will go into dress rehearsal. It's been wonderful to now see the play start to come together,” Rogers said. “I think that's very meaningful for everyone involved because it allows them to find momentum behind their characters.”
Rogers is a big champion of promoting the arts in school. She feels theatre is not just for the students who love being on stage and have an artistic voice, but that it also provides a place for students to learn to be collaborators, take risks, accept challenges, and build their confidence. She added having art in school brings out the best in people, and allows them to challenge themselves.
“I have students who work with me because they would like to be able to stand up in front of their classmates and deliver a speech without quaking with fear,” Rogers said. “The drama and make-believe component is really just a second thing for them.”
