Seton Hill takes on Shakespeare’s ‘Dream’

Students in my Shakespeare class will be attending this play.

Student actors at Seton Hill University are off on a journey through one of William Shakespeare’s most popular romantic comedies, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Not even the writing style of the Bard — sometimes difficult to master for those new to the playwright’s poetic verse — is getting in the way of their enthusiasm for the classic piece of Elizabethan theater.

“Connecting to Shakespeare’s language can be one of the most challenging elements for students,” says Kellee Van Aken, assistant professor of theater and director of Seton Hill’s theater program, who directs the production. “We work on scansion, meaning, rhyme and visualization to help them connect to the language. The actors need to have confidence in their own mastery of the text to tell the story to the audience.” —Tribune-Review