The University of Idaho Theatre Arts Department is presenting two plays this holiday season to meet the needs of students and community members.
“A Midwinter Night’s Dream,” an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” runs Friday through Dec. 9 at the UI Hartung Theater. “The Gift of the Magi” will run during the same time, but at UI’s Forge Theater.
“A Midwinter Night’s Dream” is not explicitly a Christmas show, but it is for the holidays, said director Stephen John.
“The nightly performance is informed so much by the audience itself,” John said. “When you come to the show, you will see elements that remind you of your holiday. It’s really less about one holiday and more about the season as a whole … To be able to look at it openly and say ‘Oh, I recognize my own world in there,’ I think is important.”
John said in addition to adapting the play to center on the winter solstice rather than the summer, he adjusted each character, looking at them in the most positive way possible.
“I said, ‘You know, what happens if everybody really is in love?’” John said. “And we’re just trying to find that thing that is love. But it’s mixed up, and that’s OK because that’s life. Everybody wants the best in the world for themselves and for the person that they love.”
The show has an expansive set with many lights, John said, and it contains storytelling with a huge amount of spectacle, creating a “literal kind of magic.”
David Harlan | Courtesy
Actors Whitney Holland and Dylan Paul rehearse a scene from “The Gift of the Magi,” a 35-minute play opening 6:30 p.m. Friday at the University of Idaho Forge Theatre.
“People are going to leave, and they’re going to feel good,” John said. “You’re going to smile, and that’s all we need at the holidays.”
Kelly Quinnett, director of “The Gift of the Magi,” said there is an educational need for UI to present a Shakespeare play, but the musical adaptation of “The Gift of the Magi” provides the traditional Christmas show many community members look forward to attending each year.
“The Gift of the Magi” is a 35-minute story about love and sacrifice. Quinnett said it is a show she thinks everybody needs right now.
“It is the feeling that comes from wanting the best for someone else,” Quinnett said. “The feeling that comes from loving without expectation — what that does for someone else, and what that does for you, and how important that is. It is a great reflection of the inherent goodness of people.”
For the show, theater students having been working with guest professor and Broadway actor Dylan Paul, who is playing one of the two main characters. Quinnett said Paul’s professionalism and talent has raised the bar for students, as well as helped to bring out their true strength and potential.
To give the show a community component, Quinnett said she invited local artists to perform pre-shows 30 minutes before the play begins. Each show features a different group of artists. More information on the pre-show can be found on UI’s Theater Arts Department webpage.
Along with each show, the Forge Theatre will serve as a collection point for canned food for the Disability Action Center and the Vandal Food Pantry, as well as a site for Christmas gifts for local children. Quinnett said she encourages audience members to drop off food and unwrapped gifts before performances.
Quinnett said she hopes the show inspires hopefulness and joy and people leave with the feeling they believe in the possibility of anything.
“We’re in this small town, but we can create this magic that will provide something for our students and community,” she said.
Jordan Willson can be reached at [email protected]