Levels presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The Island Now
Cast and crew members from Levels Teen Center’s outdoor production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream pose in front of their all-natural “stage.”

Levels, the Great Neck Library’s teen center, is presenting their first live, in-person theatre production since 2019, William Shakespeare’s hilarious comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The show will take place outdoors, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 12, 13 and 14 at 6:00 p.m. behind the Library’s Main Building at 159 Bayview Avenue in Great Neck, 11023.

Admission is FREE and the show is open to the public, though tickets are strongly recommended to guarantee seating, as space is limited. For online tickets, please visit Levels’ website at greatnecklibrary.org/levels-is. Audience members are asked to bring blankets and towels as there will be a large blanket seating area. An area of chairs will also be provided for those who need it.

Once upon a summer evening, four young lovers flee into a forest. Elsewhere in the forest is a group of amateur actors struggling to rehearse a terrible play. What none of them know is that this enchanted woodland is home to the always-fighting king and queen of the fairies, and an array of mythical creatures, including one particular prank-loving imp named Puck. When fairies and humans meet, there’s magic, mayhem and mistaken identity – but in the end, everyone’s lives are transformed in strange and wonderful ways. Teen director Nina Zar updates the classic tale with an LGBTQ+ twist and a modern sense of humor, setting it all to a jazzy original score by teen composer Adam Schiff.

The cast of local high school and middle school students includes Eva Corrales, Daisy Duan, Talia Elyaho, Aliza Fine, Anna Goldman, Clara Goldman, Ava Hoffman, Kylie Hoffman, David Kagan, Sophia Kuang, Marisa Levine, Shira Lichter, Sarah Munson, Ben Pitt Stoller, Emely Renteria, Lizzie Sokolova, Jessica Tamari, Valerie Varkonyi, Katie Wang, Kevin Wang, Maverick Williams, Jonathan Wu, Maurice Zalta and Ben Zar. Costume designer is Ava Hoffman and makeup designer is Maurice Zalta. Production artwork is by Adam Schiff, and choreography by Emely Renteria. Leah Schader and Qu are sound operators and Tyler “T-Rex” Hakimian is technical coordinator.

Levels, the Library’s cultural center for teenagers established in 1974, presents several fully-staged theatrical productions a year, giving teens the opportunity to learn leadership and responsibility through the arts. Levels productions are directed, produced and performed by students in seventh grade through college-age under the guidance of Levels’ staff of accomplished adult artists. During lockdown, Levels pivoted to online Zoom theatre, putting on four virtual productions – Midsummer will mark their return to live theatre with an in-person audience. For more information (and for raindate info in case a performance needs to be cancelled due to weather), contact Levels at (516) 466-8055 ext. 216 or email levels@greatnecklibrary.org.

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