The Broke Thespians Theatre Company take on Shakespeare

LOCAL ENTERTAINMENT

MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

and recreations with their production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” 425 years after the first publication of the play. The community theatre troupe put their own spin on the production,

Shakespeare’s plays are often considered timeless, surviving centuries to be retold again and again. The Broke Thespians Theatre Company added to the lineage of interpretations creating an engaging and memorable performance that included a multimedia aspect focused on reality TV. The show ran through the end of January and the beginning of February but one can catch their next production, Hookman in March or audition for Shrek the Musical by appointment March 7.

Summer Jones was the director for the Midsummer Night’s Dream production. She enjoyed the role since it gave her the opportunity to explore all aspects of collaboration and creativity.

“It’s such a rewarding process to have something that was just one little sprig of inspiration turned into a huge laugh moment that the whole audience laughs at,” Jones said.

Directing any production comes with a set of challenges. For Jones, this included tackling Shakespearian language. Thankfully A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the famous playwright’s more straightforward plays, but there were little to no stage directions written in the original production.

“It can honestly be a little daunting because it feels like there are a million and one choices to make; but that’s what can also really set you free from it, is that you get to go with your gut instinct,” Jones said.

From the early days of rehearsal this was the cast’s strategy, exploring their instincts and exploring their characters, a trial and error process.

“Summer Jones decided to come at Midsummer with a vision that incorporated multimedia and pointed out the similarities in these classic melodramas like Shakespeare — these comedies that are super farcical — and reality TV.” said Lexi Morris, a cast member playing both Puck and Philistry.

This production was Morris’s return to acting in a theater production after an eight year hiatus. Last year she submitted her play “Echo” to the Broke Thespians’ New Works Festival and got chosen to have her work performed as a staged reading.

“Being able to do the New Works Festival, as a playwright, was so incredible. Meeting people from Broke Thespians and seeing where their vision was, where their priorities were, made me really excited to look for other opportunities in the future,” Morris said.

During the Midsummer production Morris noticed a change in the energy and the audience reaction from the dress rehearsals to the final performance.

“By the last show people were audibly commenting or gasping and laughing. You could tell that people were getting it. So it felt really successful and it was a lot of fun,” Morris said.

It had been five years since Alli Wright had done any acting, and Broke Thespians welcomed her with open arms. She moved to San Marcos for college and wanted to get involved in community theatre, so she auditioned for Hermia.

“The community is very open to a lot of different people; I just love performing, and I love feeling welcomed into it,” Wright said.

She was nervous about the audience’s perception of the show since Shakespeare can be complicated to those that are unfamiliar.

“ I was really happy when [the audience] laughed as much as they did; it made me feel very proud,” Wright said.

Aaron McMillan is a TXST theatre student who played Theseus and Oberon. He first got involved with Broke Thespians as an actor in their production “Witness for the Prosecution” in 2024. He was intrigued by the reality TV multimedia aspect of the production.

“I thought it was such a cool idea, and it’s a unique way to take the production. That’s kind of how I feel about how every element came together. I feel like we did a really unique production of Midsummer,” McMillan said.

Another TXST student Jay Brown played Tom Snout and Cobweb the fairy.

“I think everyone played their characters to the fullest extent, aiding in the audience’s love for the show,” Brown said.

Hallie Strange played Helena in Midsummer and is a dramatic media major at Texas Lutheran College. This was Strange’s third time in a production of Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“I think this was the coolest production I’ve been a part of, just because it was super creative with the concept of reality TV, which fits Shakespeare so well. Because, in reality, that’s all that it is,” Strange said.

Strange has been in theatrical productions since she was five, participating in all aspects of productions from directing, lighting and even tech.

“This is one of the most well received shows I’ve ever been a part of, with just how interactive and excited the audience was the entire time, and also how big of houses we had every night was kind of cray. We sold out two nights in a row, which is awesome,” Strange said.

Although the production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is but a dream now, The Broke Thespians Theatre Company has many productions planned for the year. Follow their instagram at @brokethespians or check out their website for showtimes, tickets and audition information at brokethespianstheatrecompany. org