“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” may date to the 1590s, but the Performing Arts Department’s latest production of Shakespeare’s classic is as fresh as ever. All elements of the show contribute to a magical experience, as the audience travels to Fairyland and back. Make every effort to see “Dream” this weekend; even an ass would not miss it.

The oneiric plot of “Dream” combines the best of fantasy, love and the supernatural. In ancient Athens, Hermia (junior Marissa Barnathan) wishes to marry Lysander (senior Eli Keehn) against her father’s wishes. Her betrothed Demetrius (sophomore Pete Winfrey) continues to love Hermia despite the incessant attention of Helena (junior Megan Lacerenza). To avoid punishment, Hermia and Lysander flee to the forest, pursued by an enraged Demetrius, while Helena chases him. Nearby, a troupe of amateur actors rehearses a tragedy. A weaver named Bottom (senior Matthew Rosenthal) is a particularly enthusiastic member of this ensemble. Simultaneously, Oberon (senior Dan Tobin), the King of Fairies, quarrels with his consort Titania (senior Julia Mellon) in the same forest. Oberon sends his servant Puck (junior Artem Kreimer) to enchant the queen with a flower; when Titania awakens she will fall in love with the first creature she sees. After Oberon observes Demetrius spurning Helena’s love, he orders Puck to bewitch Demetrius as well, though Puck mistakenly enchants Lysander too. Furthermore, Puck transforms Bottom into an ass; Titania immediately lavishes love upon the hapless donkey. Puck and Oberon realize the extent of their mischief and frantically work so that “Jack shall have Jill/Nought shall go ill/The man shall have his mare again, and all shall be well.”

The greatest triumph of this production of “Dream” is its masterful portrayal of these events. While the wild plot threatens to bewilder, even those who have never read a line of Shakespeare (shame on you!) will follow the action without difficulty. After establishing each character’s relationship to the others, the story proceeds in a reasonably linear chain of cause and effect. Despite their fantastic quality, these actions and their consequences feel natural and almost rational. As Bottom notes, “I have an exposition of sleep come upon me,” so too will the audience accept the play’s logic. Shakespeare invites the audience to think that they have strayed into a dream alongside the characters.

The other aspects of the production all aid this seamless transition into Athens and Fairyland. For example, the lighting during the forest scenes mimics moonlight filtered by branches and adorns the walls of Edison Theatre with silhouettes of foliage. While other plays with characters that stand around listening to each other can feel static, somebody in “Dream” always moves. Contributing to this momentum, the costumes of the fairies reflect a wild and unbounded nature. The whole play has an energy that really made it fun to watch and see what would happen next. At times, one actor or another would recite lines as one would a poem, but this negligible flaw was the only real defect of the production.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is excellent. The total experience is wonderful and I recommend it to all. Allow the performers to “to show [their] simple skill,” and buy a ticket. You certainly will not regret it.

The musical begins with a projection of Dolly Parton asking the audience to envision 1979, a world of cheap gas, electric typewrites and pervasive sexual harassment. The plot follows three secretaries, Violet (Dee Hoty), Judy (Mamie Parris) and Doralee (Diana DeGarmo), and their boss, Franklin Hart, Jr. (Joseph Mahowald), a “selfish, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot.” Violet is head secretary, a widow and mother of a teenage son. Judy falls under Violet’s tutelage after her husband abandons her for a floozy. Doralee, a zaftig Texan, attracts both the attention of the men of the office and the resentment of the women. Once Hart denies Violet a promotion, unfairly fires Judy’s colleague and spreads rumors of an affair between Doralee and himself, the three secretaries resolve to combat his misogynistic regime.

The plot’s reliance on weak puns, poor logic, exaggerated personalities and unbelievable situations culminates in absurdity. For example, when Judy’s former husband unexpectedly returns, he explains his appearance with, “I’ve been following you for several days.” Judy does not noticeably find this creepy and eventually rejects him for a weaker and entirely different reason. The whole scenario seems irrational. While the theme supposedly is female empowerment, a male deus ex machina ultimately saves the day, which feels unsatisfying and completely contradictory to the spirit of the musical.

Despite the show’s inherent weaknesses, the actors behind the characters lend able performances. Hoty provides a strong portrayal of a woman abused by the company too often. Of the three leads, Parris’ performance is best, and her delivery of “Get Out and Stay Out” is the musical highlight of the show. Doralee, the role originally played by Parton, earns mixed reactions. While she exudes sincere warmth as a “backwoods Barbie,” DeGarmo adopts an accent that hails from neither Texas nor anywhere in the English-speaking world. Eventually, the twang grates upon the nerves. A line from “Catch-22” characterizes her uncannily well: “The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous and likeable. In three days no one could stand [her].”

Other aspects of the production neither help nor hurt the total effect. The set design is a little bland, with nothing impressive or particularly innovative. The songs are upbeat and well-written, but I can today only remember one melody. Supporting actors ham up their performances for comedic effect, though sometimes to an offensive extent.

“9 to 5” will appeal directly to those who love campy productions and flamboyant characters. Whether or not they will consider the ticket prices, $24 to $66, worth their time remains to be seen. If the price is too steep, watch a few episodes of “Glee” on Hulu instead.

The motto of this new group is, “if there’s a theater involved, we’ll sing it” according to sophomore and founder Cary Simowitz. By “theater” he means home theater, movie theater or live theater—all of which inspire the new group’s repertoire. The group features popular crowd-pleasing theater tunes like “Run Freedom Run” from Urinetown, The Little Shop of Horrors medley, “The Song of Purple Summer” from Spring Awakening and “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” from Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Simowitz and his co-founders saw a need for an a cappella group that would cater to the schedules of students who also wanted to participate in Performing Arts Department shows. In the spring, Simowitz’s participation in the musical “Ragtime” conflicted with rehearsals for his previous a cappella group. He noticed that other cast members were in a similar dilemma—and it wasn’t long before they banded together to form The Ghost Lights.

Don’t let the name fool you—they will not be wandering campus singing ghostly dirges or only performing on Halloween. The unique name stems from the theater term “ghost light,” a light left on in the theater overnight. Some say it’s to keep away the “bad spirits” of forsaken performers. The more practical explanation, however, is that it gives the late-working stagehands a guiding light so they can find their way out of the theater.

Simowitz feels that their name symbolizes dedication to singing and performing, as the ghost light helps the late-night, hardworking theater members who leave at the very end of the night.

Forming The Ghost Lights was not an easy process. Though they are an official student group, they were not accepted into Wash. U.’s governing a capella committee, the A Cappella Auditions Council (ACAC). According to Simowitz, the group was initially rejected because the ACAC wanted to ensure the group would stay stable over their first year in existence and continue to grow. The group plans to reapply next year.

Currently, The Ghost Lights has 15 members. They recently sang at Nobel Laureate Douglass North’s birthday celebration, but their first official Wash. U. performance will be a joint concert with other a capella groups at Ursa’s Dec. 10 at 10 p.m. Until then, be on the lookout for impromptu performances around campus, something that the budding, passionate group is known for.

Editor’s note: Cary Simowitz is a Student Life copy editor.

Cedric Huchuan Xia | Student Life

Students perform in Diwali in Nov. 2009. Diwali, also known as the “festival of lights,” celebrates the victory of good over evil. Diwali’s first performance is Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Edison Theatre.

What is Diwali?

Diwali, also known as the “festival of lights,” celebrates the victory of good over evil. During the five-day holiday, small clay lamps are lit; these lamps are called “diyas,” and each represents an individual’s inner light that shines in the face of evil.

At Washington University, Diwali is a dance, musical and theatrical performance. There will be a fashion show and performances by the Pikers and Sur Awaaz, Wash. U.’s co-ed Hindi a cappella group.

The show is put on annually by Ashoka, the South Asian student association. The group turns the traditionally Hindu, Jain and Sikh holiday into a multicultural celebration.

“What makes us most proud of our show is that many people from different backgrounds and cultures do participate in our show, making it a very diverse and holistic experience for everyone,” said senior Priya Nagarajan, Ashoka’s co-cultural chair.

Nagarajan wants to share the occasion with the whole Wash. U. community. Each act represents a different South Asian culture through song and dance. Also, the show will incorporate holidays from other religions, like Eid ul-Fitr, a three-day Muslim holiday that celebrates the end of the month of Ramadan.

Lily Schorr | Student Life

Diwali’s acts are tied together by an interwoven story. Although Ashoka has been fairly tight-lipped about this year’s play, the group has let some details slip. This year’s show is titled, “Love in the Time of Partition,” which is a reference to the 1947 Partition of India, when India and Pakistan became two independent states.

Senior Monis Khan, the play’s writer and director, is a first-generation American. Since his great-grandparents lived in India and his parents are from Pakistan, it’s fitting that “Love” explores the tension between Indian Hindus and Pakistani Muslims at the time of the Partition.

In the story, four present-day Wash. U. students travel to Pakistan for vacation. However, the students meet a mysterious girl on their journey who sends them back to the year 1947. The protagonists find themselves in the middle of a violent clash between Hindus and Muslims on the night of both Diwali and Eid.

“The play is a celebration of both holidays, but, unfortunately, as we’ve seen in different times in history, it’s a night that leaves people vulnerable to ethnic violence,” Khan said.

The plot will harp on the theme of good versus evil, but this year’s story will also discuss the role that antiquated stereotypes play in our society.

“What we’re really talking about is how the stereotypes that grew out of the Partition affect South Asians to this day,” Khan said. “The turmoil of 1947 is relevant to how we socialize today. You think we’ve moved on, but we really haven’t. We have to talk about it; we have to confront it.

“Only through confronting these stereotypes with tact and comic relief can we challenge the foundation upon which they are rooted. By challenging our notions of the other, we can create a meaningful dialogue that will hopefully alleviate the cultural tension that still exists.”

The theme may seem heavy, but rest assured, the story promises to remain comical, even as it spurs dialogue.

When is it again?

Performances are Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at noon and 6:30 p.m. at Edison Theatre. See you there!

No Shame is an experimental workshop for short theater pieces. Writers are encouraged to bring anything they’ve written, from serious work for playwriting classes to spoof pieces written five minutes beforehand to “found” pieces such as Facebook wall-to-walls or textbook introductions. Anything goes. Writers hand out scripts to any interested actors, and then there is an immediate performance of as many pieces that can fit in two hours.

Hosted by the Thyrsus student theater group, No Shame Theater started out as an event mostly geared toward students heavily involved in Thyrsus and Performing Arts Department productions. However, according to senior and current Thyrsus president Dan Tobin, No Shame has been gaining a wider audience in the past few years.

“I think No Shame is a great way to explore the notion of playwriting and how plays are created,” Tobin said. Since Thyrsus is also hosting a playwriting competition this year, it’s possible that contestants will use No Shame as a tool to develop scenes for their entries.

In previous years, most of the scenes performed at No Shame were less serious. Spoofs of existing plays have been especially popular. At a particularly memorable No Shame last year, actors performed the entirety of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” in five minutes, finishing with a zombie uprising. And what 2009 graduate Sathya Sridharan began as a parody of Greek epic works became an epic in its own right known as “The Hangrammon Cycle,” serialized over two years of No Shame Theater.

“Basically, there is an epic warrior who uses a magical chair as the ultimate weapon to defeat his foes and win the love of his life,” Tobin said.

Aside from a few continuing serial works, there is never any predicting what will happen at No Shame Theater. There might be audience participation, and a scene might be interrupted in the middle or spontaneously become a musical.

“No Shame is the least stressful event I have to organize,” Tobin said. “It’s just about the writers, the actors and the audience. I don’t have to do anything.”

So if you’re looking for something different to do on a Friday night, consider checking out No Shame. The Facebook invitation says it all: “IT WILL BE WAY TOO MUCH FUN.” No Shame will begin tonight at 10 p.m. in Olin Studio II.

Junior Selena Lane’s “100 Pines” follows Tracy, a pregnant teenager who returns home from college a few weeks after freshman Orientation. To combat stress, Tracy plants pine trees in her mother’s backyard in an attempt to plant a garden. The play details the relationship between Tracy, her mother and another man as they all cope with a sudden change in their lives. When Cadenza asked whether Lane’s original vision is reflected in the staged reading, she replied that she hopes “100 Pines” will never be exactly the play she imagined.

“My play will be at its best when it escapes the theater of my mind and can be open to different interpretations,” Lane said. “Giving it some ambiguity, some way to free it from purely the way I imagined, will be better for the success of any piece and [will] definitely [yield] more creative interpretations from directors and actors.”

The winner of the 2010 A. E. Hotchner Playwriting Competition is “The Stroke Scriptures” by senior Chris Kammerer. Like “Babel” or “Crash,” “The Stroke Scriptures” concerns multiple individuals who live miles away from each other but struggle with a similar theme, in this case, the loss of control. A former poet, for instance, struggles with Broca’s Aphasia after a debilitating stroke. The action occurs on two separate days: one immediately after one character’s disappearance, the other soon after his mysterious return. Kammerer says he drew from personal experience while writing the play. For example, he animates scenes set in Chicago by injecting his own memories of the city. Kammerer is reluctant to call the characters heroes; he considers them relatable due to the ordinary nature of their problems.

“I think the mind’s lack of control is really an issue we’ve all got to face, unless we want to put ourselves in a box to live in, he said. “We have to ask how much control we really have, even when we feel like we’re in charge.”

Jake, the protagonist of senior Eli Keehn’s “Before Jumping In” has even less direct control of his mind than the troubled characters of “The Stoke Scriptures,” as a directorial board convening in his head arbitrates his decisions. Keehn views the board as a “fun way to illustrate the decision-making process, at least as I understand it.” The board consists of two men and a woman, each with a distinct personality, set of tastes and role.

The play reiterates an old question: Why do we act so stupidly sometimes? In “Before Jumping In,” Jake faces the consequences for cheating on his girlfriend while the board plots his next mood.

Could a casual writer win the next Hotchner Competition? When asked for advice, Lane, Kammerer and Keehn emphasize rewriting and revision.

“I now understand why some novelists take years upon years to finish a book…I was rewriting my play up until last week,” Lane said.

“Find a conflict and write about it. People want to see characters deal with problems,” Kammerer added

Keehn’s advice is even more general.

“If you feel creative, just start writing, and whether it should be a play, a book or poem, [it] will naturally occur to you.”

Schedule
A Hundred Pines
by Selena Lane
Friday, 7 P.M.

Before Jumping In
by Eli Keehn
Saturday, 2 P.M.

The Stroke Scriptures
by Chris Kammerer
Saturday, 7 P.M.

David Kilper | WUSTL Photo Services

Senior Kate Healy is cast as Aphrodite in “Metamorphoses.”

Showing: at Edison Theatre, at 8 p.m. on April 30 and May 1, and at 2 p.m. on May 2

Many courses offered next semester include the idea of change: Calculus deals with instantaneous changes in functions, biological anthropology concerns changes in human physiology, and history chronicles changes in the world over time. This weekend, theater adds its own perspective. Mary Zimmerman’s “Metamorphoses,” a play currently showing at the Edison Theatre, challenges a viewer’s relationship with change. Specifically, “Metamorphoses” explores how fundamental human nature, which has remained static for thousands of years, responds to sudden hardship or reward. Furthermore, the play asks the audience to find the lifestyle best suited for confronting unexpected change.

“Metamorphoses” condenses Ovid’s epic and selects the most powerful myths to illustrate the theme of change. The gods, though “not altogether unkind,” exert their influence on the mortal world by dramatically interfering with the lives of humans.

From Midas to Orpheus, and from Alcyone to Baucis, mortals undergo various metamorphoses, or physical changes, which reflect their internal traits. Hubris is punished, while charity and love are rewarded. To stress the timeless nature of these myths, some take place in antiquity, while others have anachronistic references to better tie their stories to today. These myths, however, offer more than just simple morals like the importance of humility and piety. “Metamorphoses” also shows why myths themselves retain importance and relevance.

Sometimes I wonder whether my passion for the humanities is worthwhile. If I major in English, philosophy or history, I’ll never cure cancer, balance the national budget or design better computer systems. Toward the end of the production, “Metamorphoses” addresses these concerns as a therapist comments on Phaeton’s story. Phaeton, the son of Helios, the sun god, asks his father for “the keys to his car.” Helios initially refuses to allow Phaeton to command the sun, but Phaeton persists. Helios relents, and Phaeton nearly destroys the world. With plenty of humorous psychoanalysis, the therapist concludes two points about the nature of Phaeton’s tale. First, “myths are the earliest form of science,” and second, “myths are public dreams.” After Phaeton’s tale, the audience hears Mozart.

Art, and the rest of the humanities, carries the same themes as myths. With myths as the first science, then, one can approach “Metamorphoses” as a guide to proper human life. With love and charity and Baucis and Philemon, humans can transcend their nastier natures and find redemption.

“Metamorphoses” delivers handsomely as a theater experience as well. The amazing set features a pool of water in which actors stand, sit, walk and lounge. For the best experience, one must have a basic knowledge of classical mythology. Unfortunately, some of the lines have a flat delivery. While the characters and myths of “Metamorphoses” are ancient, their portrayals at times felt too inhuman. Relating to their experiences and empathizing with them could be difficult.

Nonetheless, the ending of “Metamorphoses” is perfect. The visual and narrative elements combine to create a powerful image. There’s no other word for it but perfect. See “Metamorphoses” for its timeless perspective on life, arrogance, love and redemption.

David Kilper | WUSTL Photo Services

Sophomores Ari Scott and Allison Reed in Lynn Nottage’s sharp-eyed satire “Fabulation,” directed by William Whitaker.

Shortly before I left for St. Louis, my parents told me I had their support, provided I did not loiter at home after graduation, waiting for life and employment to happen. The dreaded “boomerang generation,” as the London Telegraph calls it, frightens even the most-confident mothers and fathers. While most would-be Benjamin Braddocks simply lack a sense of direction, Undine, the protagonist of the Performing Arts Department’s latest comedy, returns home under more-desperate circumstances. “Fabulation,” playing this weekend at the Hotchner Studio Theatre, adapts the parable of the prodigal son for today.

The plot of “Fabulation” is straightforward. After her husband leaves her bankrupt and pregnant, Undine (sophomore Allison Reed) must live with her impoverished parents, grandmother and brother (sophomore Diamond Skinner, junior DeMarco Mitchener, sophomore Carissa Ferguson and sophomore Malcolm Foley, respectively) in Brooklyn until her name is cleared. Fourteen years before, Undine scorned her family by declaring that they perished in a fire. Moreover, she returns home impenitent and defiant, proud of her obsession with glamour and appearance. Her morals disturb her family, who expected an apology. Depressed yet stubborn, Undine refuses to repent until diffused by an optimistic former drug addict (junior Chris Kammerer).

Unfortunately, the humor of “Fabulation” compromises its message. The play earns laughter with Undine’s witty asides and observations, reacting to absurdities like her heroin-junkie grandmother, and the confession of a professor hooked on cocaine. Undine’s acerbic tone is derived from her arrogance and embarrassment with her family. This one-dimensional conceit may bring comedy to Brooklyn, but, given Undine’s intelligence, it makes Undine’s slow realization of the error of her ways irritating. Lynn Nottage, the playwright, portrays Undine as a lesson by counterexample, using Undine’s brother to declare, “There is no greater crime than abandoning your history.” Though Undine encounters increasingly ridiculous scenarios, such as a rude bureaucracy, her flaws never complicate, giving an incomplete feeling to her eventual epiphany.

“Fabulation” nonetheless provides excellent entertainment. The acting, strong and believable, transports the audience from Manhattan to Brooklyn seamlessly. Though clearly establishing the importance of family, Undine’s arrogance and fascination with sophistication make it difficult to relate to her as a protagonist. All the same, see “Fabulation” for its examination of morality in the slums and the importance of history.

That’s right. In Cast ‘n’ Crew’s production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” the audience members don’t just guess how everything turns out, but they actually get to vote on who should have done it. The first act of the show is a musical performance of Charles Dickens’ final work, but unfortunately, Dickens died suddenly without finishing his mystery and without leaving any notes about how it would have ended. Thus, during intermission, the audience gets to decide three things: the true identity of a mysterious detective who appears in the second act; which pair of characters should become lovers; and, most importantly, the murderer of Edwin Drood.

Altogether, this means there are more than 840 possible combinations of endings, which virtually guarantees that each audience will get a unique viewing experience. Even the actors haven’t rehearsed every possible ending. According to director Marley Teter, “What we do is rehearse each candidate for detective as the detective and each candidate for murderer as the murderer. It’s tricky, of course, because the murderer’s confession song is the climax of the show, and no single candidate for murderer will ever have rehearsed his or her song even a fraction as much as the rest of the show has been rehearsed, since he/she has to trade off at rehearsals with the other candidates. But isn’t that what makes it exciting?”

So if, like me, you read choose-your-own-adventure books as a kid and wished that concept applied to more than just books; if you crave control over your theater-going experience; if, in short, being a part of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” sounds like an exciting way to spend an evening, then get your ticket now. They are available for $5 at the DUC from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. all this week. Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, with 2 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday.

Located near Saint Louis University, the theater is accessible by car or by the Grand Metro stop, which is about a 15-minute walk away. There are plenty of restaurants at various price points located on the same block as the Fox, giving you countless dinner and show options.

Aside from offering wonderful performances, the Fox is also an amazingly beautiful building. The entire theater is designed with an Indian sultan feel. There are golden elephants, lushly colored carpets and walls, and ornate decorations everywhere. No matter how much time you spend in the theater, you can always find some new, breathtaking detail.

But while every inch of the building is beautiful, it is not acoustically equal in all sections. Considering my several visits to the theater and the various places I’ve sat, I’d recommend getting seats as close to the center as possible. The music and lines tend to be garbled and more difficult to understand in the seats along the sides. As for viewing ability, there’s really no difference between the Fox and other theaters; the further back you get, the smaller the actors will look to you.

Being in St. Louis does not have to close you off to Broadway, especially if you’re a lover of all things created by Andrew Lloyd Webber or sung by Kristin Chenoweth. The Fox Theatre provides you with quality shows and an overall beautiful experience. Upcoming performances include “In the Heights,” a hilarious, Tony Award-winning musical (Nov. 10-22) and the classic “Little House on the Prairie” (Nov. 24-29). So get tickets to a show this year because we could all use a little more choreography and harmony in our lives.