A Midsummer Night’s Dream

John Jay Middle School Theater Club's Fall Production

Taking one of William Shakespeare’s classics, set in a forest in Athens, and moving it to a shopping mall?

That’s part of the fun in store for audiences at John Jay Middle School Theater Club’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by David Fritsch with Assistant Directors Marcia Daley-Savo and Gloria Miller.

The show runs Thursday, November 3 through Saturday, November 5, with 7:00 pm performances, and a 1:00 pm matinee on Saturday, November 5.

Tickets are $10 at the door.

November 3 - 5

  • fall production

Nola Hargrove as Puck

  • starpucks

having fun with Shakespeare

The idea of moving the setting to a shopping mall came from Lenny Fritsch, a John Jay theater alumni and theater expert like their dad, Director David Fritsch. Lenny currently works as a professional stage manager and lighting designer for a theater company in Chicago.

“The play fell into place after that,” said Director Fritsch.

The reimagined modern setting also opened the door to many clever riffs on middle school life and the 17-member cast is delighted to give the audience a heads up.

“The shopping mall has a Starpucks,” said Nola Hargrove, a sixth grader who plays Puck, one of play’s main characters.” She also mentions Abercrombie & Fritsch, an homage to the show’s director. While Principal Jeff Swiatowicz might be one of the only theatergoers to notice that it’s next door to Swiatowicz Crystals, all of John Jay will love the wolf logo for Paprus Lupus!

John Jay Middle School Theater Club builds community and confidence.

“This is more serious than the shows in elementary school,” said Ava Rose Baiocco, who plays one of the maintenance workers in the Athenian Shopping Mall. “We can learn from older students. The seventh and eighth graders have experience with shows and understand the pressure.”

RJ Ellerodt, a seventh grader who plays Oberon, one of the faeries, said he likes introducing the sixth graders to theater. “We want them to succeed.”

Sebastian Donnelly plays Nick Bottom

  • student actor

Thank you!

Thank you to the Design Crew: Jan Leake Bullard, Diane Miritello, Diane Moller, Marcia Daley-Savo, Gloria Miller, Matt Miritello, Meg Rogers, Ashley Slane and Bran- die Krulik; Costumes: Aria Linz; Carpentry Design: Joe Sipos and Chris Shapland; Sound Design: Jesse Weiss and Ava Ley; Lighting Design: David Fritsch; and Set Concept: Lenny Fritsch.