Children’s theatre perform ‘Midsummer Nights Dream’
By Gia Hale Special to the Dispatch
Gilroy – South County kids as young as 5 tackle the literary legend this weekend in the Gavilan College Summer Theater Arts Repertory production of “Romeo and Juliet.”
The children’s theater program, which traditionally puts on classic American musicals at the college, is doing Shakespeare for the second year in a row after last year’s success with “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
“How many times does Shakespeare get done in this area and how many times does Shakespeare get done with kids this age?” said Director Javier Hurtado about the unique opportunity to do the show. “We have kids from 5 years old to 16 years old doing Shakespeare, so I think it’s a really special thing for this area to have.”
The play features a cast of 24 students and is set in the 1950s with a soundtrack of music from the decade. The show also features various dance numbers and live musical performances of “Dream a Little Dream of Me” and “Going to the Chapel” by STAR veteran Katie Hipol, who plays the nurse.
Gilroy’s Laura Doughty, 13, plays a male role, Paris, Juliet’s other love interest.
“I think it’s a good show,” she said. “It’s a different kind of theme for [Shakespeare].” She starred as Hermia in last year’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and said that she’d gotten accustomed to speaking Shakespearean English because of it.
Another Gilroy native who stars in the play, Andie Isaacson, 13, is excited to play the role of Lady Catherine, Juliet’s mother.
“Well it’s really fun,” she said. “I get to be really mean because I’m rich. It was fun to throw people around and boss people around.” Isaacson also said she’d made a lot of friends during her participation in the play.
“I think it’s going to be a really good play,” said Beth Bonnad, 15, who plays title character Juliet. “Everybody was really enthusiastic about it and everyone wants to make it good.”
Bonnad said that being a lead in the play was fun because, “All the little girls want to hold your hand and it’s really cute.”
Hurtado, who is finishing his eighth and final summer with STAR, said that working with the kids was a rewarding experience.
“Just seeing that look of confidence on their faces,” he said. “They’d come back from home after memorizing their lines all night to do this big speech or monologue that they didn’t think they could do, and they’d jump on stage just a couple days later and they’d nail it and they’d know they nailed it.”
Other than the change in setting and some editing to shorten the running time of the show, Shakespeare’s original language is maintained and performed impressively by the youngsters.
Kali Smiley, 9, knows something about the challenge of memorizing Shakespeare. She was in last year’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and is starring as a watchman and citizen in this year’s show.
“It’s really fun,” she said, “It’s tricky, but it’s cool.”
