Before wiping away the drowsy haze that clung to her eyes, freshman Ava Rosciano searched her email for the much-awaited cast list, on October 10. As her eyes landed on her name, she paused in a moment of disbelief.

“I was surprised at how far my name was up [on the cast list],” Rosciano said, who received the role of Peaseblossom, one of the four main flappers — this production’s version of fairies, “I was ecstatic.”

This rendition of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” – which ran from November 20-22 – drew inspiration from the roaring twenties, as it didn’t take place in a mythical forest, but instead a retro speakeasy known as “the Forest.” With this addition, many elements of the classic Shakespearean play had been altered to fit the contrasting era. In this unique production, fairies were replaced with “flappers” and “mobsters,” and jazz music was strikingly incorporated.

However, possibly the most daunting element was the script, since it remained the same. Students took on the challenge of not only learning the difficult Shakespearean language to interpret their roles, but also performing their lines in a way that allowed for the audience to understand as well.

“I really hope [the audience] had a good laugh and walked out of there being like, ‘That’s the first time I’ve ever understood Shakespeare,’” Rosciano said.

For Rosciano to succeed at her role, she had to create a strong interpretation of her character that fit the more modern setting. Since it wasn’t a large role, those choices were more difficult for her to make.

“I think it’s just a lot of imagination,” Rosciano said. “You need to take what you can see in the script, and then you need to come up with assumptions or make some stuff up yourself about who your character is and their intentions and goals.”

She was able to compose her character’s personality, and found that she was very peaceful and easygoing. Even little details like Peaseblossom’s favorite color being light yellow were essential for Rosciano to develop an understanding of her character.

Throughout Rosciano’s seven years in other theater programs, she has always grown closer with her castmates. Although it was Rosciano’s first show at Prospect, she has already begun to develop long-lasting friendships.

“I feel like [theater] has always been a part of my life,” Rosciano, who’s acted in shows at the Metropolis Performing Arts Center since she was seven, said. “I feel like I was so drawn to it because it’s not just singing, acting and dancing, but I think it’s just the epitome of performing. The people who are drawn to that are just drawn to that, and I think every musical I’ve ever done has had such an amazing community.”

Before auditioning for the show, Rosciano, along with the other cast members, were offered a chance to work with a Shakespearean expert, Professor Kevin Long, who teaches at Harper College, in an extensive workshop to learn about the history of the Shakespearean language and how to use it effectively. This way the actors could be prepared, not only for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” but for an entire year of Shakespearean shows.

They learned that Shakespeare gave his scripts to actors in fragments, so he would be the only one to have the complete version in order to prevent the play from being stolen. The actors had a version of the script that only contained their lines along with their cues so they knew when to begin speaking.

This made it difficult for the actors to understand their roles and act out the proper emotions. Shakespeare solved this problem with his own writing. The commas in seemingly incorrect places, the sudden capitalizations, the interspersed “Os” — these are not redundant embellishments or errors, but stage directions. His shows were written to convey the emotion he wanted the actors to express through the language itself.

Recognizing the intensity of Shakespeare’s work, director Jeremy Morton felt his students needed to experience it firsthand. Morton has notably worked at Prospect for the past 25 years, and in this time he realized he hadn’t done many Shakespearean shows — an omission he felt the urge to address. Morton made the decision to direct a full year of Shakespeare and finish it off with a trip to England over spring break.

On this trip, students will not only get to participate in workshops and see performances at the National Theater and the Globe Theater, but also visit Stratford to learn more about Shakespeare and where he grew up.

Both Morton and tech director Thomas Ringrose wanted to find a way to make this production unique. Nearly a week before auditions, they finally decided to set the show in the 1920s after a long reconfiguration process.

“[We are] finding ways [to include] a lot of subtle forest imagery in this show to give it that sense of nature, when we’re not actually in nature,” said Ringrose in the days leading up to the performance.

Before senior Charlotte Wind, a painter and stage hand on tech crew, could begin applying her marbling techniques onto columns, she needed to ask Ringrose what colors she should use. Ringrose wanted to take this opportunity to give her more freedom with the designs.

After talking through their vision of incorporating the original forest color palette into the columns, he knew how important it was that he gave Wind the responsibility to make that decision on her own.

“You have to take chances in theater to find where the art can go, and we [as directors] have to give students the opportunity to take those chances and be willing to accept that,” Ringrose said.

Wind is working her second year on the tech crew, where she has the opportunity to mentor some of the newer tech members and answer their questions.

On tech crew, Wind builds and paints set pieces as well as working on the running crew during shows.

“You want to keep the suspended disbelief that it’s a show that’s actually happening,” Wind said. “[Not being noticed] is a compliment to the tech crew because you’re not supposed to be, but I do want our work to be noticed.”

While the tech crew worked hard backstage to make the show seamless, those onstage brought it to life. Senior Quanin Brooks, who played King Oberon of the fairies  — or in this case, the head mob boss — stepped out of his comfort zone in his final year at Prospect to become a character unlike anyone he’d played previously.

To step into this role, Brooks had long conversations with Morton that really explored the vision for this character, and in addition he even watched “The Godfather” to deepen his understanding of a mob boss’ personality.

“[I’m] able to portray these characters that are so different from me,” Brooks said, “[and] able to rehearse it and work with it so much that it becomes less of a character and more of an extension of myself.”

Over the years, as Brooks grew as an actor, he reflected on the legacy he hoped to leave behind.

“I just want to be part of [Morton’s] growth experience,” Brooks said. “I would like to say that I helped [Morton] grow as a director or as a teacher because I was a good actor in his productions.”

Brooks not only built a strong bond with Morton, but also formed lasting friendships that have shaped his experience both on and off the stage.

“The simplest way I can say it is I made friends, but in reality I’ve made deep bonds with these people,” Brooks said. “I think that’s what I’ve gotten from theater. I’ve met such a wide variety of people.”

Although his friends impacted his current experience, before Brooks stepped out onto the stage for the first time, he had no clear idea of what his future looked like.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I came in freshman year, but I auditioned for [Prospect’s 2022 fall play “Puffs”] and suddenly I knew what I wanted to do,” Brooks said. “I never hesitated, I never wavered. I knew that [theater] is exactly what I wanted to do, and I never thought about anything else.”

His devotion to theater hasn’t dimmed, but instead progressed more with each production. This was evident in this year’s winter play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

“It’s something that I really find a passion in. It’s been so deeply engraved in me ever since freshman year. I didn’t expect it to be so influential to me, but it kind of just stuck with me. I can’t envision myself doing anything else,” Brooks said.

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