After receiving such a great reception from audiences for last year’s One Act Play, A Play With Words by Peter Bloedel, One Act director Tim Bode has selected another Peter Bloedel script for this year’s One Act Play – The Seussification of a Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The Bard’s most beloved comedy gets the full Seuss treatment in this playful adaptation. Two madcap Narrators chronicle the tale of the mixed-up lovers as they wander through a forest full of whoosh bush tush beasts and fairies dueling with bumballoon swords. Told in rhyming couplets, this reimagining is how Shakespeare’s magical tale might have played if Dr. Seuss had gotten his hands on it…
“I really enjoy Bloedel’s use of language,” said Bode. “It’s one of the reasons I chose last year’s show, and also a major reason I decided to do a Peter Bloedel show again this year. So many One Act plays available seem to deal with heavy issues, and while it’s certainly important to address serious topics with high school students, I wanted to do a show that brought joy and laughter to people, and I think The Seussification of A Midsummer Night’s Dream will do just that.”
The MLHS One Act Play is part of the Minnesota State High School League’s annual One Act Play competition. Because of this, certain rules apply, such as a maximum of 20 students in the cast and crew, and a maximum running time of 35 minutes.
The top two plays at the subsection competition, as determined by the judges, advance to the section competition, and the top play at each section competition advances to the State One Act Play Festival February 7 & 8 at The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University in St. Paul.
Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc. (www. playscripts.com), the show will be performed in the MLHS Fine Arts Center Auditorium at 7 PM on January 16, at the Minnesota River Conference One Act Play Festival at MLHS on January 19 at 2:50 PM, and at the 4A subsection competition at Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted High School (time TBA) on Saturday, January 26.
The Conference Festival will include the One Act Plays from Norwood Young America, LeSueur-Henderson, Belle Plaine, Sibley East, Jordan, Tri-City United (TCU), and Mayer Lutheran. The first performance starts at 9:10 AM with the Awards Ceremony beginning at 3:50 PM. Food will be available from the MLHS concession stand. Tickets for the festival are $6 for adults and $4 for students.
