“The course of true love never did run smooth,” so says one of the characters in William Shakespeare’s timeless comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The play is one of The Bard’s most often produced works, but the Department of Theatre and Dance at the College of Charleston will set the play in a very modern context, when it opens the production on April 9th.

It’s a story of four young people and what happens to them in a forest when magical fairies cast spells on each other as well as on the mortals. One of the foursome is a young girl named Hermia, who flees into the forest with her true love, because her father doesn’t approve of her choice. Another of those four is a young man nacmed Demetrius, who it is said had toyed with the affections of Hermia’s best friend and now is denying the truth of that dalliance. In this production, Hermia’s passion – the one that has raised her father’s ire – is for a young woman with whom she hopes to marry. Hermia’s best friend in this production will be a young man, so Demetrius’ flight of denial into the forest takes on new meaning as well.

DETAILS: Directed by Mark Landis, this modern-dress production, with its equally modern take on the story will run Thursday, April 9 through Wednesday, April 15, 2015. Curtain times will be at 7:30 p.m., except the Sunday show at 3 p.m. only. Performances will take place at the Emmett Robinson Theatre in the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 Saint Philip St. Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for senior citizens and College of Charleston students and employees. Tickets can be purchased by calling (843) 953-5604 or online at theatre.cofc.edu.