On Thursday, Feb. 19, The Acting Company will bring ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Great Expectations’ to the Ramsey Theatre as part of the Black & Gold Performing Arts Series.
“The black and gold series [has] been around at Wayne State College since 1969,” Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities David Bohnert said. “And the intent is to bring, I’m going to say world-class artists to Wayne, world-class performers to Wayne State College.”
The Black and Gold series consists of four shows a year and for the first show of the semester Bohnert selected The Acting Company to come and perform.
“I try to create a diverse season and touring theater has been increasingly hard to attract,” Bohnert said. “And the reason is because there are less touring troops out there. It’s just become very expensive. I’m glad to have the acting company here, specifically because we have not had live theater, professional theater, I should say, for a very long time.”
The first performance will be ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ which will start at 1:30 p.m. in Ramsey Theatre. This show will be 60 minutes without an intermission.
Mallory Avnet one of the actors for The Acting Company will be playing the characters of Helena and Starveling.
“I play Helena, who is one of the lovers,” Avent said. “As well as Starveling, who is a member of the Rude Mechanicals group. Helena is in high school and Starveling is a member of a newly formed theater troupe.”
Avnet talks about loving both shows for different reasons but also likes that she can add her own comedy to the show. Avnet said she loves ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ due to the characters she gets to play.
The second show being put on is ‘Great Expectations’ which will start at 7:30 p.m. in the Ramsey Theatre and is a two and a half-hour show that will include an intermission. Avnet plays Sally Pocket and Herbert Pocket in ‘Great Expectations’
“Then in Great Expectations, I play Sally Pocket, who is Miss Havisham’s cousin, as well as Herbert Pocket, who is also Miss Havisham’s cousin, but of a different generation,” Avnet said.
Avnet then talked about how she loves ‘Great Expectations’ because of the storyline and how new the production is.
“What I love about Great Expectations is that it’s brand new and no one has seen it,” Avnet said. “So, every time you do it for a group of people, it’s the 1st time that they’re going to be receiving the show and there’s something so exciting about sharing that with people.”
With The Acting Company coming to Wayne, it means that it gives the students an opportunity to get involved in a high-level show. Bohnert said how the students in lighting class have already been at work preparing the lights for each specific show.
Avnet finished off talking about how her favorite part of these shows are getting to work with the students and getting to travel to places she never thought she would go to.
“We are excited to be there and to perform for you guys and it’s genuinely a true joy and an honor to be able to come into these different theaters,” Avnet said. “So, we are just as excited to be there as people who are excited to see the show.”
