Dream State: A Fusion of Synths and Shakespeare Fosters Human Connection at River’s Edge Theatre

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Performers in Dream State: A Fusion of Synth and Shakespeare. (Photo: Joe Hughes)

July 9, 2024

The production combined the old and the new, challenging audiences while enveloping them in a dreamlike atmosphere

by Lilly Sayenga–

On Saturday, July 6th, a group of nymphs led a synthesizer-backed interpretation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at River’s Edge Theatre Co.

Dream State: A Fusion of Synth and Shakespeare is part of River’s Edge Theatre’s After Hours Series. The performance blended theatrical, musical, and visual performance elements, bringing community members together in an intimate space for a night of meditation, self-reflection, and release.

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Dream State was created by River’s Edge Theatre’s Artistic Director Meghan Covington, and was brought to the stage with the help of synth musician Jon Hatch and actors Sweta Keswani, Traci Redmond, and Julia Schonberg. The immersive experience included a shifting landscape of soothing sounds, lighting, and visual projections and contained interludes of sampled Shakespearean verse.

Performer Sweta Keswani explained that the production was an effort to create more experimental art that challenges social boundaries between people. Challenge it did: in several moments of audience participation, concertgoers were summoned by the nymphs to join the limelight and engage in freeform dance.

One exercise, mirroring the movements of a fellow audience member, was uncomfortable yet fascinating to engage in. Being forced to focus on physicality amidst a hypnotic musical backdrop made the evening uniquely dreamlike. We were, after all, mostly strangers, fleetingly united by place and time. Dream State thus delivered in its promise of a “dream state,” beckoning its audience to connect to the more magical parts of themselves. Whether that meant letting go of inhibitions or being grounded in the tangibility of the human form, the performance encouraged new approaches to self-perception and expression.

The idea of freedom and returning to the simplicity of nature abounded, as watery synths echoed over projections of the changing seasons. Random ephemera — from false teeth to condoms — were also passed out by the giggling fairies, perhaps as if to illustrate the absurdity of the human condition.

Audience members were additionally asked to write down the answer to the question “What is holding you back?” on a sheet of paper. At the show’s end, these papers became a part of the performance, as everyone threw, tore, and joyously rid themselves of the pieces.