Shakespeare meets 1940s film set in Capital High School's spring production of “Shakespeare in Hollywood,” where celebrities engage in laughable comedy.
Laura Brayko, the director, said the play was based on Shakespeare's comedy “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” but in which the actors traveled to 1940s Hollywood.
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The Royal Shakespeare Company commissioned Ken Ludwig to write the play based on a 1947 film, Brayko said.
“It’s history meets Shakespeare, but it’s all funny,” the director said.
Throughout the production, the actors fall in love with the wrong people because of a magical flower that the students made themselves along with other props and costumes.
Rory Lambert-Clark, playing Oberon, and Rachel Drake, playing Puck, rehearse a scene from the upcoming spring production of “Shakespeare in Hollywood” at Capital High School.
THOM BRIDGE, independent record
The flower is round like a plate and has a mechanism in the middle with a little plush heart that pops out with the press of a button.
Brayko added that the majority of the cast are freshmen and most are sophomores.
The “easy-to-understand love story” is filled with complex characters, especially for Capital junior Aaron Heisel, who plays Dick Powell in the 1930s, who in turn plays Lysander in the production.
“It’s so cool to play an actor who plays a Shakespeare character,” Heisel said.
He added that the layered aspect makes the production more fun and dynamic for him because in his previous roles they were more focused on a singular character.
Savannah Comstock, another senior actress, plays Louella Parsons, a “gossip girl” who hosted her own talk show.
From left, Savannah Comstock, Elliot Ganno and Kaela Burke rehearse a scene from Capital High School's spring production of “Shakespeare in Hollywood.”
THOM BRIDGE, independent record
This will be Comstock's last high school production since she graduated in June. She said she was excited for college but would miss the productions.
“I was on my way here, trying not to cry because I was driving,” Comstock said.
She said it would be hard to say goodbye, but she wasn't the only senior who would miss the high school production stage.
Aaron Heisel and June Forsythe rehearse a scene from the upcoming spring production of “Shakespeare in Hollywood” at Capital High School.
THOM BRIDGE, independent record
Senior Jazmine-Kharma Mudget was in charge of costumes for the production and said it felt like a “full circle moment” for her and her high school producing career.
She started in costumes her sophomore year, but returned to acting in the fall of her senior year with “The Man Who Came to Dinner.”
Mudget tends to use color coordination between characters and roles. For example, she dresses the couples in the same colors and the antagonists in red.
“I don’t want to say (the production) was the easiest, but the cast is so nice and easy to work with,” Mudget said.
The production will be presented at the Capital High School Auditorium, 100 Valley Drive, April 18-20 and April 25-27 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 for students and $10 for adults and can be be purchased online at https://shorturl.at/fhkyA or at the door.
Cast members rehearse a scene from the upcoming production of “Shakespeare in Hollywood” at Capital High School.
THOM BRIDGE, independent record
Sonny Tapia is a criminal justice and education reporter for the Helena Independent Record.
