Repertory Philippines returns to Shakespeare with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, bringing its tangled lovers, mischievous fairies, and comic misadventures to the stage this September.

There are few things Shakespeare understood better than the unruliness of desire.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, four young lovers flee into the forest in pursuit of the lives they think they want, only to find themselves caught in a far more bewildering tangle. A quarrel between the fairy king and queen, the interference of the mischievous Puck, and a troupe of amateur actors rehearsing a play of their own turn a single night into a world where affections shift almost as quickly as the spell is cast.
This September, Repertory Philippines brings Shakespeare’s comedy to Saint Cecilia’s Hall at St. Scholastica’s College, Manila, marking the company’s return to the playwright nearly two decades after its 2008 production of Hamlet.
Directed by REP Artistic Director Jeremy Domingo, the production remains rooted in Shakespeare’s original text, allowing its wit, wordplay, sarcasm, and double meanings to carry the comedy. Rather than distancing the play with a contemporary rewrite, the staging finds its energy in language that has remained remarkably sharp across centuries.
The production moves between the court of Athens and the enchanted world of the fairies, with Randy Villarama taking on the dual roles of Oberon, King of the Fairies, and Theseus, Duke of Athens. Lesley Leveriza Lina and Giannina Ocampo-Van Hoven alternate as Titania, Queen of the Fairies, and Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.
The four lovers are played by Dani Roque and Isabelle Prado, alternating as Helena, with Sevee Eslabra as Hermia, Luis Marcelo as Lysander, and GK Diola as Demetrius. Joey Cosio-Mercado takes on Puck and Philostrate, while Joel Parcon plays Egeus.
Then there are the Mechanicals, whose attempt to stage a tragedy becomes a comedy in itself. Tristan Bite plays Nick Bottom, with Alexa P. Sandiego as Peter Quince, Rico del Rosario as Francis Flute, Ysh Bautista as Robin Starveling, Robert Bradly Hao as Tom Snout, and Bella Alejandro as Snug.
The fairy court is completed by Alejandro as Peaseblossom, Dana Lee as Cobweb, Rosea Ansay as Moth, and Lorrie Figueroa as Mustardseed.
For all its moonlit forests and mischievous fairies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is ultimately concerned with the fickleness of love. Its characters pursue people who do not return their affections, mistake infatuation for certainty, succumb to jealousy, and wake to consequences they could never have anticipated.
As Repertory Philippines approaches its 60th year, its return to Shakespeare places a centuries-old comedy in the hands of a new generation of performers, giving Manila audiences another chance to enter the forest where reason gives way to impulse, and where love rarely arrives in the form we expect.
By morning, the spells will be broken, the lovers restored to their proper pairings, and the night reduced to something almost dreamlike. But Shakespeare leaves us with the sense that perhaps love itself is the more enduring illusion.

Repertory Philippines’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs from September 12 to 27 at Saint Cecilia’s Hall, St. Scholastica’s College, Manila.
Tickets for the shows are available via <a href="https://premier.ticketworld.com.ph/shows/show.aspx?sh=WSAMSN26&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawUMlSlwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMXlNcmFncjZCWmhxMW9zemtzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeJRMuPDK9JE0ZXHIPKgj-FjIiBYiv4wn1KEA-VObAx7k2yfLnqJ7B3t019W8_aem_RVyGgm9-I81E1B-ZvqTHAg">Ticketworld.</a>

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Comes to Manila

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