June 3-18, 2022

The Magnetic Theatre

Asheville NC

Photos by Cheyenne Dancy

Midsummer for Haters was a co-production with The Magnetic Theatre that ran June 3-18, 2022.

Our reconsideration of Shakespeare’s beloved classic comedy began with a question: what do we hate about A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

As a result of our explorations, we developed a production that addressed our pet peeves: the lovers had deep and serious connections, Hippolyta’s journey was centered (and we incorporated portions of her myth left out by Shakespeare – a group of Amazons in disguise came at the end to rescue her from her marriage to Theseus); the mechanicals were a collection of stuffed animals; the fairies were anything but twee.

To make things even wilder and weirder, we created two versions of the show, which ran in rep, exploring sadistic Oberon vs compassionate Oberon; malicious Puck vs. innocent Puck; and more. The actors did not know which version of the show they would be presenting until the first scene of each performance began. 

With Zak Hamrick, Christine Hellman, Daniel Henry, Molly Graves, Katie Jones, Erin McCarson, Alex McDonald, Lauren Otis, Jon Stockdale, Haven Volpe, and Paul Vonasek

Directed by Melon Wedick; Set Design by Alice Dodge; Sound Design by Chris Hamilton; Lighting Design by Abby Auman; Costume Design by Christine Caldemeyer; Fight Choreography by Jered Shultz; Stage Management by Jessica Johnson.