Junior Congreve
23 June 2025
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Since January, members of the Third and Fourth Form have been working on a production of Shakespeare’s beloved play, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. After months of rehearsing, we performed at The Queen’s Temple throughout the penultimate week of term, on Thursday 19, Friday 20 and Saturday 21 June.
The play follows three parties; the Athenians, the mechanicals and the fairies, as they navigate the world of love. Puck the Sprite (Harry Blackwood, Fourth Form, Grafton), is often causing mischief for the four ‘lovers’ (Harry Smith, Fourth Form, Croft; Patrick Kingsman, Fourth Form, Winton; SofÃa Garvin, Fourth Form, Cheshire; Emily Hampson, Fourth Form, Cheshire) by enchanting them to fall in love with one another, putting a bit of a damper on Lysander and Hermia’s plan to get married and escape Hermia’s father (Ethan Clark, Third Form, Winton), and the nobles of Athens, Duke Theseus (Joshua Mills, Third Form, Walpole) and his wife Hippolyta (Talya-Sara Akar, Fourth Form, Stanhope). Meanwhile, Oberon, the King of the Fairies (Stefanos Mores, Third Form, Grenville), enchants his wife, Titania (Isla Colby Butcher, Third Form, Cheshire) to make her fall in love with the next thing she sees, whatever it may be. After being lulled to sleep by her entourage of fairies, (Bobo Ohene-Adu, Third Form, Lyttleton; Sofia Shamsuddin, Third Form, Cheshire; Talya-Sara Akar), she is awoken by The Mechanicals (Alex Zecevic, Fourth Form, Cobham; Jeevan Sehmi, Third Form, Grenville; Georgina Smith, Third Form, Nugent; Hugh Smith, Third Form, Chatham; Orsino Gollance, Third Form, Chatham), who are led by Rita Quince (Alice Crack, Fourth Form, Cheshire), and are trying to rehearse a play about two lovers, Pyramus (Orsino Gollance) and Thisbe (Jeevan Sehmi). Bottom has been enchanted to have the head of a Donkey – another example of Puck’s mischief – and scares his fellows away. This wakes Titania, who immediately becomes betrothed.
After they have had their fun, Oberon and Puck decide it is best to set things back to how they should be, and so everyone ends up with their rightful partner. The play concludes with an immense wedding celebration, where the Mechanicals present their performance, introduced by Philostrate (Magnus Akinloye, Third Form, Temple).
As performers, it was a real challenge at first to get our heads around Shakespeare’s language, but once we did, the rehearsal process was exciting and different to anything we had ever done before. It was a fantastic script, and every word felt carefully placed and delicately crafted by the world-renowned wordsmith.
It felt magical to be able to perform at the Queen’s Temple; one of the most beautiful views in the entirety of Stowe, with so much history. We were so lucky to perform here, however it proved to be a unique challenge as we fought against wind, birds, cars driving past and a heatwave! And yet, we pushed through, and put on four marvellous shows. As a cast, we became incredibly close-knit, with every member looking out for one another in the wings, changing rooms and around the school; one of my favourite memories is after the final curtain call, when everyone was screaming and hugging each other with pure bliss, celebrating the journey we had been on together.
It has been an absolute joy to put this production on, and all of us will miss the rehearsals throughout the week, but will certainly be grateful for the rest over the Summer. So much work and effort went into this production, and huge thanks go to our directors, Mr Miller and Mr Riddington-Smith; without whom none of this would have happened. We are all incredibly grateful for this opportunity, and look forward to the next production here at Stowe!
Patrick Kingsman (Fourth Form, Winton)