WHO: ACTORS
WHAT: Auditions for A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
WHERE: Matthews Opera House Theater 612 N. Main Street, Spearfish
WHEN:  Thursday, February 27 and Friday, February 28 from 6-8 pm
WHY: Because everyone loves a classic FAIRY tale.
HOW: No experience necessary! You will be asked to read with other participants from sections of the script previously selected by the directors. All auditions will be performed as a “cold read” (seeing the script for the first time). Auditions are also a great time to express your interest in backstage work, set building, lights and all of the other necessary skills that make a show great! Stop by if you have any interest in the action “behind the scenes” and visit with the directors. 
PERFORMANCES: May 9, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 2025
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare
Two pairs of star-crossed lovers, a feuding fairy king and his stubborn queen, a love potion gone awry, and a troupe of bumbling actors weave a comedy of errors in Shakepeare’s beloved tale.
Plot
Ring in the Spring with A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Matthews. In William Shakespeare’s classic comedy, residents of Athens mix with fairies from a local forest, with absurd results. Theseus, Duke of Athens, is to marry Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. In hopes of staging a play for the wedding celebration, Bottom the Weaver and his friends rehearse in the woods with results that can only be described as hopelessly ridiculous.
Meanwhile, four young lovers are in a romantic tangle. Lysander and Demetrius love Hermia; she loves Lysander and her friend Helena loves Demetrius. Hermia’s father, Egeus, commands Hermia to marry Demetrius. All four young people end up in the woods where the fairy Puck, who serves the fairy king Oberon, puts a spell on Lysander, and then Demetrius, unintentionally causing both to love Helena. Oberon, who is quarreling with his wife, Titania, uses the same magic on her, causing her to fall in love with Bottom, who now, thanks to Puck, wears an ass’s head.
Available Roles:
THE FAIRIES:
Titania: the queen of the fairies, married to Oberon, falls in love with Nick Bottom, whose head Puck has transformed into that of a donkey.
Oberon: the king of the fairies, commands his servant Puck to give Titania a love potion that creates much of the play’s confusion.
Puck: A mischievous fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals. He causes chaos for a group of young lovers, transforms Bottom’s head into that of a donkey, and applies a love potion to Titania’s eyes.
Peaseblossom: One of Titania’s fairy servants
Cobweb: One of Titania’s fairy servants
Mustardseed: One of Titania’s fairy servants
Moth: One of Titania’s fairy servants
THE MORTALS:
Lysander: A young man of Athens, in love with Hermia. The victim of Puck’s misapplied magic, he falls asleep in the forest and wakes up in love with Helena.
Demetrius: A young man of Athens, he is in love with Hermia although she doesn’t love him. Ultimately falls in love with Helena.
Hermia: A young woman of Athens. Hermia is in love with Lysander and is Helena’s best friend.
Helena: A young woman of Athens, in love with Demetrius but he doesn’t love her anymore. Helena is Hermia’s best friend.
Egeus: Hermia’s father, who wants his daughter to marry Demetrius even though she’s in love with Lysander
Theseus: The heroic duke of Athens.
Hippolyta: The queen of the Amazons, engaged to Theseus
Philostrate: Theseus’s Master of Revels, responsible for organizing the entertainment for the Duke’s wedding celebration.
THE MECHANICALS:
Nick Bottom: The over-confident weaver chosen to play Pyramus in the craftsmen’s play. As a prank, Puck transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass and applies a love potion to Titania’s eyes, causing her to fall in love with the beast.
Peter Quince: A carpenter and the leader of the craftsmen’s play.
Francis Flute: Plays Thisbe in the craftsmen’s play. Forced to play a young girl in love.
Robin Starveling: The tailor chosen to play Thisbe’s mother and Moonshine.
Tom Snout: Ends up playing the Wall dividing the two lovers in the craftsmen’s play.
Snug: Chosen to play the lion in the craftsmen’s play, he is worried his roaring will frighten the ladies in the audience.