ANN ARBOR—Continuing its commitment to opportunities for undergraduates, the Residential College at the University of Michigan and the University’s Nichols Arboretum have combined their resources to present Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” amid nature’s splendor.

Made possible by a grant from the Ford Motor Company, this production, under the direction of Lecturer Kate Mendeloff, will offer six free performances
Theater in the Arb is not new at U-M, but has not been a regular occurrence since the 1930s, when student productions were held in the East Valley. This production will take full advantage of the Arb’s natural settings by incorporating the landscape into the play and moving the action throughout the Arb.

Each presentation of this story of flowers and young lovers and dreams and of fairies who lived in an enchanted wood will include the magical places created by trees, valleys, hillsides, and plantings with the actors, puppets, diaphanous costumes and pranks of the fairies drawing the audience into the magic of a moonlit spring evening in the Arb.

Martin Walsh, lecturer in drama at the Residential College, has assisted in this production, the finale of a spring term class initiated by Mendeloff.

This production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is part of the Arts in the Arb program, established in 1997, celebrating different ways people view and interact with our natural environment.

Residential CollegeFord Motor CompanyArbMartin Walsh