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2
Thursday, June 11, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS
BEN SCHECHTER/Daily
SACUA member Angela Fagerlin gives her opinion on an agenda item during
a Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs meeting at the Fleming
Building on Monday.
SUMME R SACUA
Shakespeare in the
Arb performance
draws crowds
Director adds
modern touches
to Shakespeare’s
traditional works
By JACKIE CHARNIGA
Daily Staff Reporter
Last Thursday, Friday, Sat-
urday and Sunday, a set of
actors made up of Univer-
sity faculty and students per-
formed in Nichols Arboretum
during
the
annual
Shake-
speare in the Arb.
The
program’s
director,
Kate Mendeloff, a Residen-
tial College faculty member,
spearheaded the tradition in
2001 by first directing an out-
door production of “A Mid-
summer Night’s Dream” as
part of a grant.
“I
chose
‘Midsummer
Night’s
Dream’
because
I
thought it was so perfect for
the arboretum. And it was a
real hit, despite the weather.
I mean, by our third per-
formance, over 400 people
showed up,” Mendeloff said.
The success of the first
production led to a revival
the following summer, which
Mendeloff
said
received
record crowds.
To commemorate the play
that
launched
the
annual
performances,
“A
Midsum-
mer Night’s Dream” is per-
formed once every five years.
Shakespeare in the Arb tra-
ditionally hosts comedies or
romances such as “Twelfth
Night”, “Much Ado About
Nothing” and “Love’s Labour’s
Lost.”
According
to
Mendeloff,
Shakespeare’s comedic plays
are more suitable to the fam-
ily-oriented crowds that are
usually drawn to the produc-
tions. Furthermore, she said,
they allow for more cross-
sectional casting options — a
benefit for Mendeloff’s more
experimental renditions.
“I want to be able to offer a
lot of roles to women and find
plays where I can do cross-
casting easily. (My goal is) to
provide as many opportunities
because there generally are
more student actresses and
they don’t get as many oppor-
tunities
to
perform,”
said
Mendeloff.
Mendeloff, as an all-inclu-
sive director, was unconven-
tional with casting choices.
In her production of “A Mid-
summer Night’s Dream,” three
performers played the role of
Puck, the play’s mischievous
elf. As they performed the
role simultaneously, the actors
divided up the lines onstage.
“I started that because the
first time I did this I had three
people who wanted to be Puck
and I said, ‘Figure it out,’ ”
Mendeloff said. “I liked the
idea of multiple Pucks so much
that I’ve had that every time.
I can’t imagine one actor play-
ing Puck.”
Other originalities in Men-
deloff’s productions besides
the increase of characters
onstage includes strong femi-
nist tones.
Elizabeth Wagner played
the Queen of the Amazons
in
“A
Midsummer
Night’s
Dream.”
“The play starts off with a
physical fight between Hip-
polyta and Theseus,” she said.
“This is probably the most
stage combat I’ve done in a
production.”
Mendeloff said the venue
lent itself to this creativity in
production because it is more
versatile for comedic perfor-
mances.
“The environment is really a
player in every scene. If we’re
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