Bringing Shakespeare to Life for Students: Midsummer at Artis-Naples

At Gulfshore Playhouse, we’re thrilled to collaborate with Artis-Naples and the Naples Philharmonic for an extraordinary production of Midsummer. Performed exclusively for Collier County Public Schools’ 11th grade students. Midsummer runs for four performances this week (September 23-24, 2024).

Following is an interview with Jeffrey Binder, Adapter and Actor, and Claire Varoski, Youth Actress. Enjoy!

The show is so funny, and Jeff, you have created such a great adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Tell me how you think the adaptation enhances the story for today’s audiences. 

JEFFREY BINDER: What I think the exciting thing about this is that it exposes kids who might not have ever seen theatre, or might not have ever been to a venue like Artis-Naples. And it exposes them to this venue in a really tight way. 

The story is very, very streamlined. It’s very digestible, and it’s fun. And I think that for people who are intimidated by Shakespeare, especially kids who may roll their eyes when someone says, “we’re going to do Shakespeare” and they imagine people pontificating for seven hours. It’s not that. This show distills it into a really action-oriented piece that I think lifts the language in a way that makes it very understandable and a lot of fun. 

And then on top of it, we have the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, so we’re exposing students, who have never heard these pieces, to some incredible musicians and a full orchestra making it happen. So that’s really amazing. They get two for one, Shakespeare and Mendelssohn. It’s awesome.

Claire, what has it been like in rehearsals working alongside the professional actors?

CLAIRE VAROSKI: Well I look up to them so much because they’re professionals. They do this for a living and they’re amazing. Every rehearsal I’ve been to, they’re all just great. And I think that I can learn a lot from them and they’re encouraging me to do better. And it would be just so amazing to be one of them someday. It’s definitely a learning experience for me and I’m really excited for it. 

Shakespeare can be challenging, but I’ve heard that you’re making it seem effortless. What has helped you with that?

CLAIRE: I think that (Director) Dann Dunn helped me really enhance the way I say the lines because, at first I looked at the script and I thought, “this is really intimidating because it’s Shakespeare.” You hear about Shakespeare. You think it’s super fancy and it’s all of this stuff, but actually you just need to dig down and find the deeper meaning behind the words. And you just need to bring it to life. 

Jeff, I feel like your adaptation has kind of helped with that. Staying true to the text, but also using humor to bring Shakespeare alive. Tell us a little bit about that.

JEFF: You know, it’s interesting with Shakespeare and that, in a certain way, we put him on a pedestal. He’s brilliant, but at the same time, if you look at his history, he was a guy writing just trying to make money. He was a commercial playwright. And the great thing about Midsummer, and the fun thing about adapting Midsummer, is it’s one of his earlier plays. And it’s brilliant comedy in that you have three different levels of comedy. 

You have the Fairies, Oberon and Titania, and that language is heightened, you know, he leans into the poetry with that. Then you have the four lovers who are kind of in the middle. And they have some poetry, but they’re much more direct, but still speaking in verse. And then, you have the Mechanicals who are these dudes, and they don’t speak in verse, they just speak normally, in prose. And so you have these three different kinds of comedy that are fun for different people, different people find different things funny. So he was hitting all the notes, right? And so to adapt it, you still work to find those levels. You still try to keep the heightened language when it’s the fairies. At the same time, you try to keep it tight in a way that the poetry that they’re speaking in is the most accessible for an audience who’s never heard it before. 

I think the best praise we got last year was about the number of kids who watched the show and said things like, “I never knew Shakespeare was funny” and “I’m so surprised that I understood it.” So the kids are coming in and having a good time and it’s fun. Like, the first five minutes, they don’t know that they’re allowed to laugh, they don’t know what’s going on. They just think, “oh, I’m supposed to be watching Shakespeare.” And then slowly it dawns on them that, you know, these people are ridiculous. Like, these are ridiculous people doing ridiculous things and it’s fun.

Claire, you’re going to be performing in front of the entire CCPS 11th grade in. Most of them have never seen Shakespeare on stage. Tell us about helping them to experience Shakespeare for the first time.

CLAIRE: Well I’m hoping to reach out to them and really show them that something like Shakespeare isn’t really that scary. Like, you shouldn’t be looking at it and saying, “I don’t understand a word about this.” I want to try to convey the message that it’s fun. And especially since I’m younger than them and I’m on stage performing in front of them, I just feel like maybe that will encourage some people in the audience to think “this girl is performing with adults and maybe I could do something like that.” I really hope I can move somebody to really get inspired, and not just Shakespeare, but just theatre in general. 

So Jeff, we’re about to open the new building, the Baker Theatre and Education Center. Gulfshore Playhouse is going to have the opportunity to do so much more community outreach. What kind of impact do you see that having on the Naples community? 

JEFF: Well, wow, huge effects. You know, it was always Kristen (Coury, CEO and Producing Artistic Director)’s mission to connect the community, especially anybody who loves theatre, to a place where they could not only learn, but create. And what this building is, is the cornerstone of a destination for people who love art and who love to make art. And knowing that it’s been built not only for theater, but it’s up there, the Baker Theater and Education Center, knowing that it’s been built specifically for that, that it’s not an afterthought. It’s core to the mission of Gulfshore Playhouse. It’s so beautiful and accessible, and I can’t think of a better way to bring what Gulfshore Playhouse offers to the next level. And on top of that, Kristen has a phenomenal education partner in Steven (Calakos, Director of Education). He’s just been so motivated and so full of ideas. In terms of expanding the program, he’s just really been a gift to opening the doors for students here in Naples. It’s gonna be great. 

Claire, your thoughts? 

CLAIRE: I’m really excited. My first theatrical performance that started my entire performing journey was at Gulfshore Playhouse. And I thought, that little tiny stage, it was the biggest thing for me. I was so excited, I thought it was just amazing. And now hoping that I can perform on that massive stage, knowing that I used to be that little girl on the little stage. And I’m just really excited because it’s just going to bring so many people in this community so much joy by going to the theatre, watching these amazing performances. And it’s brand new, it’s beautiful, and I’m just very excited. 

We’re so excited too. Thank you both so much!