‘Midsummer’ Project Blooms Across Campus

April 19, 2021

Rebirth. Connection with humanity. Emerging from a series of trials into a state of redemption. Hope. It’s Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and it’s the reality of our own spring of 2021.

Senior Lecturer of Directing and Theatre Arts Clay Hopper reached out to the three student directors with a proposal to develop three unique site-specific performances. The directors and their pods of designers and actors produced selections of the play outdoors all around campus. These pop-up performances — at the Booth Theatre surface lot, College of Communications lawn, and the park by BU Admissions on Bay State Road — come to life in April, complete with scenery, lights, and design elements.

Gabriela Medina-Toledo (CFA’22), a junior Theatre Arts major with a minor in Arts and Leadership and a concentration in Film and Television, is embracing the site-specific element of the production. It “has allowed more creativity and freedom to create the world of the play. For my piece, it takes place in a forest and being able to have real grass and trees to play with has allowed the actors to really live in the space and the world they are in. It’s been a very unique and exciting experience, especially playing with costumes, lighting, sound…”

“My favorite thing about this entire process has been my entire team. Everyone is so incredibly talented and the commitment and love they have brought to the table has brought so much joy to the process. It is so great to work with people who are just as passionate about the project as you are and having people who are not only super talented, but good at what they do, and creatively open to exploring new ideas has been so fulfilling.”

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Jennie Gorn (CFA’22) is a Theatre Arts major with concentrations in directing and sound design with a minor in Philosophy. This play, she says, “fits what the world needs right now, as it deals with themes of finding what you need in the world around you, often finding what you need in the form of another person or other people.”

“It’s definitely been really interesting working in the space that we’ve decided on [the parking lot next to and beneath the Joan and Edgar Booth Theater]. Because it already has a very industrial feeling, it plays into the worker aspect of the mechanicals in the play, which has been very helpful. It has its challenges, like not being able to rehearse in the space since it is an active parking lot, but the expansiveness of the space allows for a more immersive theatre experience, letting the audience slowly enter the world of the play even before any of the words are spoken.”

Collaboration is at the heart of these projects. “I’ve missed it so much!” says Gorn. “Working on the Midsummer project has definitely fulfilled that hole in my soul. Being able to be safely in person and rehearse with people and designers that are just so wonderful and generous with ideas has been a dream.”

Midsummer in Space

Tuesday, April 20

Booth Theatre Surface Lot
Directed by Jennie Gorn

Storybook

Thursday, April 22

233 Bay State Road, BU Admissions Park
Directed by Chaal Aydiner

Electric Forest

Friday, April 23

College of Communications Lawn
Directed by Gabriela Medina-Toledo

Due to safety restrictions, audiences for these performances are very limited and by sign-up only. Follow @buarts and @butheatre for more.