Every year, the Farmington High School Theatre Guild puts on a fall play. This year’s play was A Midsummer Night’s Dream written by William Shakespeare. FHS’ iteration of the play was directed and cast by Kala Loughary and Kaity Conaway, with assistant directing from senior Andrew Russell.
Lasting around two hours, this portrayal of A Midsummer Night’s Dream has quite the emphasis on visuals, having every member of the 32-person cast in uniquely colored makeup to complement the heavily stylized set, which has been widely commended as one of the best sets in FHS Theatre Guild history.
While describing the set, Toly McFarland, a junior in the FHS Theatre Guild said, “This set is different than ones I’ve done in the past, it’s so large. It takes up the whole backroom,” McFarland added, “we had to put trees and ridiculously huge murals on it.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows 3 groups, their stories, and how they intertwine. In the FHS adaptation, the first and main group is in all grey to emulate the look of an old black-and-white television show. They consist of a group of four Athenians attempting to solve a dispute regarding who will marry the daughter of Egus, Hermia.
There’s also a group of young Athenians planning to put on a play for the aforementioned group’s wedding. The final group is the fairies, who settle a dispute between the fairy king and queen.
While describing the play Conaway said, “Be prepared to laugh your socks off and come with an open mind, Shakespeare is not everyone’s cup of tea.”
Oftentimes, including aspects of slapstick comedy, the show features several hilarious moments. In contrast to humor, the play also has several heartfelt moments, usually involving the main 4 lovestruck Athenians and their conflicts.
Conaway said, “There’s a lot of really funny moments; if you like romcoms, you still might like it. It doesn’t play heavily into the romance but there is some.”
Overall, the 2024 FHS Fall Play was a brilliantly colored spectacle full of laughs. Make sure to check out the 2025 spring musical, The Adams Family, from March 20 to March 23.
