A Midsummer Night's Dream: Cast and Crew bios

by William Shakespeare

Cast
Theseus/Oberon:      Geoff Zimmerman
Hippolyta/Titania:      Caitlin Jackson
Egeus:                       Kitty Mortland
Demetrius:                Tim Larson
Lysander:                  Ken Miller
Hermia:                     Letitia Guillaud *
Helena:                     Mary-Kate Arnold
Quince:                     Maria Burnham *
Bottom:                     Michael Houghton Wagman *
Flute/Peaseblossom: Naomi Lindh
Snug/Cobweb:          Miona Lee †
Puck:                         Julia Rigby
The Lion:                  Herbert the Lion
Understudy:              Kirk Jackson

Production Team
Director:                          Holly Robison *
Stage Manager:              Lisa Uhlig *
Costume Designer:         Carrie Campana *
Lighting Designer:           Eric Van Tassell
Scenic Designer:             Lauren Angel-Nichols
Sound Designer:             Keith Gatchel *
Production Manager:      Brad Gunter *
Prop Designer:                Mel Gill
Fight Choreographer:      Robert Tobin
Graphic Designer:           Mike Wozniak
Photographer:                 Austin D. Oie
Audience Development: Jaclyn Jensen*
Marketing:                      Maria Burnham*

*Strangeloop Company Member
†Strangeloop Associate Company Member

April 24 – May 25, 2014
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

The Side Project Theatre, 1439 West Jarvis Avenue, Chicago, IL

'A Midsummer Night's Dream' closes this weekend

The final four performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream begin tonight. This is the last weekend to see this show, which audiences have called "a magnificent and intimate production. Such fine acting and a joy to witness!"

Tickets are going fast (as all closing weekends do). Get yours now on Brown Paper Tickets.

Strangeloop's intimate approach to William Shakespeare’s classic tale of love, magic and fairies features promenade-style staging, in which audience members move and sit amongst the action of the play with no formal differentiation between stage and seating.

The production takes place in the 1940s – a time period that shares with the ancient Athens of Shakespeare’s original setting political turmoil, war and the subduing of monstrous beasts (literal in one case, figurative in the other). But despite the unrest of the outside world, love still finds a place to bloom during this, the shortest night of the year.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs through May 25 at the side project theatre (1439 W. Jarvis Ave.) in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood (just steps from the Jarvis Red Line stop), at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays.

Wagman rolls up his sleeves, slips on a donkey's head for iconicShakespearean role

Wicker Park actor Michael Houghton Wagman loves that his neighborhood is developing into its own theater district in a city filled with storefronts and stages.

But Wagman’s latest project – taking on the iconic role of Bottom in William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”with Strangeloop Theatre – has taken him a little further afield, up to a small performance space in Rogers Park. The trek north for the actor has been worth it, however, to take on a role that is known for its heavy comedy, but also much subtler shades of introspection, passion and joy.

Read more about Michael, including his thoughts about Bottom in Strangeloop's production A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Bucktown-Wicker Park Patch.

Review: 'Go home Helena, you’re drunk'

Chicago Theatre Review recently recommended Strangeloop Theatre's A Midsummer Night's Dream, calling it "ribald, cacophonous and soused" and "never bloodless":

Actresses fly past inches from your knees, suitors are hurled across the room and, unless you chose to avert your eyes, you can catch eyefuls of intimate caresses between the monarchs of the forest.

Read the whole review here and then come join us this weekend.(Just make sure you're "prepared to duck, weave, and dance to ukulele strains and forties hits.")

Fairy of The Day

Cobweb (Miona Lee), left, and Peaseblossom (Naomi Lindh), right, attende their mistress Titania (Caitlin Jackson) and her new love Bottom (Michael Houghton Wagman).

Previews for "A Midsummer Night's Dream" start on Thursday, April 24, with the show officially opening on Saturday, April 26.

Tickets are available in advance at Brown Paper Tickets. But to get you in the mood for magic, we've been featuring a fairy a day on our Facebook page.

Check out all our delightful fairies (and suggest your own), as well as photos from rehearsals and tech week.