Shakespeare was no stranger to injecting a little meta-level drama into his works — consider the "mousetrap" play in Hamlet that reveals the King's guilty conscience — but the Bard reveled in adding several layers to A Midsummer Night's Dream. The comedy concerns several intertwined pairs of human lovers alongside the machination of sprites from the fairy world and a troupe of "rude mechanicals" who perform their own play-within-a-play. Luckily, the lithe, limber folks at the Missouri Ballet Theatre stage a production of Midsummer that will weave all the play's strands together with the art of dance. For this performance, the MBT will be joined by guests from Nashville Ballet and members of Washington University's Performing Arts Department. The production takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, with a 2:30 p.m. Saturday matinee (May 13 and 14). The Edison Theatre at Washington University (6445 Forsyth Boulevard) plays host, and tickets are $20 and $25. Call the theater's box office at 314-935-6543 or visit www.missouriballettheatre.com for more information.
Fri., May 13; Sat., May 14, 2011