Snow may not fall very frequently in the San Lorenzo Valley, but magic certainly will this season at Park Hall as Mountain Community Theater’s holiday production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” transforms Shakespeare’s classic into something fresh and festive for the holidays.
As four young lovers are faced with the prospect of an unhappy marriage, or worse, they flee the court and stumble into an enchanted forest. Also in the forest are fools rehearsing a play and fairies who manipulate the humans and engage in their own domestic intrigue. While all ends happily, there are touching and amusing bumps along the road.
This production features a set that is dreamy and ethereal, with “bubbles” dotting the sky, large swatches of creamy white fabric draped about, trees with twisted, writhing trunks and Grecian columns backlit with pops of color. The stage steps right down into the audience with large, faux bricks and various levels upon which the cast perches throughout the show.
For director Stephen Phillips, bringing Shakespeare back to MCT has been a long-awaited dream—one he’s been pitching for years.
“This has been a fantasy of mine,” Phillips said. “I’ve been bugging MCT to do ‘Midsummer’ for at least two play-selection cycles. It’s Shakespeare’s most popular piece—everybody produces it—and I felt it was time.”
Presenting Shakespeare in 2025 isn’t without its challenges. The play’s 400-year-old language can scare people off, Phillips admits, especially for those who first encountered it through awkward middle-school read-aloud sessions.
“It’s so exciting and so clear when you can understand it,” he said. “We spent a lot of rehearsal time breaking down the rhythm, the meaning, making it conversational. Shakespeare had fun with language, and we want the audience to feel that.”
To help his actors click with the text, Phillips even used an approach from his years teaching ninth grade: start with Dr. Seuss, then scale up to iambic pentameter.
“The kids would end up walking out of class improvising in iambic pentameter,” he said with a laugh. “Shakespeare is fun—you just have to unlock it.”
Why produce “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in December? Phillips had an answer ready: “MCT didn’t have a holiday show. And I said, well, ‘Midsummer’ is festive. It has a big party at the end. So here we are doing ‘Midwinter Night’s Dream.’”
To make it fit the season, Phillips crafted a framing concept centered around the “changeling boy”—a child caught between worlds. In this production, the story becomes the boy’s dream, reflecting his own disrupted home life.
“It ties together beautifully,” Phillips said. “We have some fabulous actors telling this story.”
Ian Dyer, who appears as tailor Robin Starveling, made an unusual jump into the world of fairies and lovers—he just came off a three-person, high-intensity production of “Misery.”
“Talk about a 180,” Dyer said. “But acting is acting, and listening is listening. The best part of this show is being part of a big ensemble again. Going from Stephen King to Shakespeare? Both great writers—just born in different centuries.”
David Leach, who plays three distinct roles—the father, Theseus (Duke of Athens) and Oberon (King of the Fairies)—said that Shakespeare leaves little room for improvisation.
“You can’t make up new lines. They won’t work,” he said with a laugh. “The language is gorgeous, and it’s already written so perfectly. I’m in awe. It’s an honor to get the opportunity.”
Sarah Mitchler, bursting with the sprightly energy required to play Puck, also serves as movement director and plays Philostrate; of the three responsibilities she holds in the production, Mitchler is most perfectly cast in the role of Puck. She darts and leaps across the stage with the childlike enthusiasm that the character demands, and moves as though she is unbound by the laws of gravity.
Charming, delightful and talented to her core, her playfulness is riveting, making Puck a character one can’t keep their eyes off of. If MCT decides to produce “Peter Pan” in the near future, there’s no doubt that Mitchler will be cast as the titular character of the event.
Coming off her performance in “Steel Magnolias,” where she played Annelle, she embraced the layered challenge of her various roles in “Dream.”
“It was interesting approaching rehearsals from a directorial viewpoint first,” she said. “Then, as we moved into the space, Puck took priority. Balancing supporting the cast while developing my own character was a dance in its own right.”
And Shakespeare itself? Mitchler lights up at the question.
“I love it,” she said. “It grabbed me by the heart and the head the first time I did Shakespeare in college. A whole play is a different beast, but you get such an in-depth look at your character. It’s thrilling.”
Raising the comedic bar in the second half is the task of the cast of fools who are delightful in their simplicity. Featuring Jackson Wolffe as Snug, Scotty Kravitz as Nick Bottom, Dimitri Lamendella as Francis Flute, Corbett Nash as Tom Snout and Nancy Martin-Kern playing the role of the director, Trina Quince, the final rendition of their play is hilarious and left the audience chuckling once the final bows were taken.
With its whimsical characters, tangled romances and fairy-filled mischief, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” remains a timeless celebration of imagination. MCT’s holiday adaptation brings warmth and wonder at a time when the community needs both.
Audiences can expect laughter, enchantment and a surprisingly perfect December tale on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm through Dec. 14 at Park Hall in Ben Lomond. For tickets and more information, visit mctshows.org.
