“A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” I hear the monotonous groan of a thousand high school students, cringing at the thought of another encounter with Sir William Shakespeare. I mean, let’s be honest here, every time you hear the word Shakespeare, a little part of you dies.

For most, Shakespeare means slogging through boring reading, analyzing incoherent (at least to you) text and painfully writing essays. But what if you didn’t have to read Shakespeare? What if a bunch of people pretended to be the characters of a Shakespeare story, and acted it out on stage? How cool would that be? If you answered pretty freakin’ cool to that question, I have good news for you. WJ S*T*A*G*E will be performing “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” this year for the fall play, and it’s set in the 1960s.  In this version, the forest of Arden, where the play takes place, is replaced by a beach.

For those of you who have never had to touch this book, or never attended middle school, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” boasts an excellent plot. It revolves around a group of people who run off into a forest. The group consists of: a guy named Lysander who loves a girl named Hermia, and Hermia loves Lysander. But Lysander’s friend, a guy named Demetrius, also likes Hermia. But then Hermia’s friend, Helena, loves Demetrius, who has eyes only for Hermia, who  loves Lysander. If this plot confuses you, that’s a shame, because if it wasn’t for some confusing English, and taking notes, this story would probably be one of the most highly praised books ever read.

Well now, S*T*A*G*E is here and hopefully will reinvigorate this tired old play, and turn it into something that will shock and amaze. After all, it has performed other famous dramas, like “Les Miserables,” which also has quite the reputation,  and still managed to wow audiences. Shakespeare is a theater staple, and  it’s hard to do right, but I have no doubt that S*T*A*G*E has the cast and crew to handle this play.