Escape the winter chill in A Midsummer NightB次元官网网址檚 Dream presented by the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Barbara Poggemiller directs the students in ShakespeareB次元官网网址檚 evocative moonlit adventure.

Get lost in the woods with ShakespeareB次元官网网址檚 collection of mythic characters, confused lovers, and a travelling actor troupe that may miss a joke but never misses a beat. Queen of the Fairies Titania and her King Oberon come to the woods to celebrate their marriage B次元官网网址� a relationship that is in complete conflict. So begins an evening of chaos wrought from the power struggle between partners that creates havoc in the natural world.

B次元官网网址淏ecause of the conflict between Titania and Oberon the planet is suffering,B次元官网网址� says Poggemiller, B次元官网网址渢he way our planet is suffering now.B次元官网网址� Poggemiller notes todayB次元官网网址檚 parallel of altering seasons and the infected element of the earth. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e working with a story that resonates here and now to help the students find that sense of personal investment and emotionally charge it with life and meaning.B次元官网网址�

Poggemiller plays the dual role of director and teacher. She instructs the students in Acting and Inner Space. While directing is restricted to rehearsals, Poggemiller has been using the class time to explore text in different ways.

B次元官网网址淲e use the text as an element of storytelling to make it come to life in terms of physicality as well as words. This is a play full of vitality, physicality, and emotion, and then the beautiful language too. WeB次元官网网址檙e using the class time to invest in the physicality of the realm of the fairies and the kind of supernatural element of dream.B次元官网网址�

Poggemiller has been working in Canadian theatre for over 30 years and continues to return to CCPA for the pleasure of working with the students. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 wonderful to be able to work with people who have the skills that these students have. They work easily in movement, in dance, in music, and bring all of those skills and more into whatever production youB次元官网网址檙e doing.B次元官网网址�

For example, one fiddler in the cast has rearranged an old Celtic tune to incorporate into the production. The other students will join her in the harmony sheB次元官网网址檚 composed. B次元官网网址淭hose kind of things donB次元官网网址檛 happen everywhere,B次元官网网址� says Poggemiller, B次元官网网址淭he level of talent, the variety of talent, that these students have B次元官网网址� thatB次元官网网址檚 a rare and wonderful thing.B次元官网网址�

The cast is composed of CCPAB次元官网网址檚 Enriched Performing Arts Diploma Year II students and Performing Arts Certificate student Rebecca Thackray. The UVic grad came to CCPA with her BMus, Major in Vocal Performance, to study the full complement of disciplines in performing arts. The one-year program, designed for working professionals or those that have completed a relevant post-secondary program, is customized just for her.

Canadian College of Performing Arts presents A Midsummer NightB次元官网网址檚 Dream, Dec. 14 to 16, evenings at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. in the CCPA Performance Hall, 1701 Elgin Rd.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $21 for seniors, and $16 for students and CCPA alumni, available at the box office 250-595-9970 ext. 222, online at ccpacanada.com/tickets, or in person.