MID-FRIDAY

CRISIS
FIRST EDITION
ANAGHA SRIDHAR, GRACE FU, BEN SCHWEIGHAUSER

SETTING
The setting of this play is taken place in a normal high school. The school is very clean and the
environment is very clean and proper. In this particular play, there are two hallways used the most
divided by a set of stairs. Each hallway contains a
set of couches and a table in the middle. The distinct colors of the couches shows the different
mood in each scene. The simple furniture, and the
lighting from the sun shows the setting of the
school very clearly. When the scene changes to
Helenas Arrival, the characters turn around from
their conversation and the mood changes as the
edgy character enters the play.Red Couches

Red Couches
This is the setting at the very beginning
of the film, when the lovers Lysander
and Hermia are introduced. The color
red of the couches develops the theme
of love and creates a happy and affectionate mood.

Crimson Red Couches

The film takes place at the crimson red
couches towards the end of the film after
the drama starts. Lysander talks to Helena about asking Hermia to the formal.
Throughout this scene, Helena shows
slight signs of jealousy, while Lysander
shows signs of guilt through their
speech. The crimson color helps further
develop the jealous mood.

Hallway / Lockers
The lockers symbolize Hermias insecure
mind about her grades. In addition, it develops her characterization, showing
she is an organized and tidy person.

Classroom
The setting of the classroom is very calm
and quiet, yet Hermia is shown to be
working hard, developing her uptight
character.

CAST
Arranged in order of appearance
Ben Schweighauser ............. Lysander
Anagha Sridhar .................... Hermia
Grace Fu .............................. Helena

CHARACTER
DESCRIPTIONS
Lysander
Ben plays the character of Lysander who is also a teenager. He is
a character who is trying to be on his best behavior around the
one person he loves, Hermia. He is very persuasive and enthusiastic throughout the play this is another opportunity for him to
show Hermia how fun he is.
Hermia
Hermia: Anagha plays the character of Hermia who is a young
teenage girl in a high school. Hermia is portrayed as the popular
high school girl, who everyone loves. At the time of this production, Hermia is struggling to keep up with schoolwork, as well as
her relationship with Lysander and friendship with Helena. As the
it girl of the school, Hermia is a girl in a position of stress. Due
to this, Hermia will sacrifice all forms of fun to get perfect
marks, even the event of the summer formal. Her character is
very modest and innocent and brings to the scene a very sweet
tone. The original character of Hermia in A Midsummer Nights
Dream is similar to how our group interpreted it, but though modernization texts, we were able to exaggerate and enhance the
characterization.
Helena
Helena: The character Helena is played by Grace. She is a character who is very jealous and envious of her best friend Hermia.
Helena is portrayed as the second popular girl, who everyone
loves after Hermia. During the production, Helena struggles to
win over the love of her life Demetrius who she is assuming Hermia took from her. She has a whiny and accusing tone of voice.
In a way, the film rotates around the fact that although she is her
best friend, Helena is jealous of Hermias popularity on a daily basis. Compared to Hermia, Helenas is much edgier than Hermias,
representing how the characters are different; Helena being
more outgoing and straight-to-the-point, while Hermia is more
modest and quite.
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CHARACTER COSTUMES

Hermia

In this interpretation of Act 1, scene 1 of Midsummer Nights

Dream, Hermia is portrayed as the popular high school girl, who everyone loves. At the time of this production, Hermia is struggling to keep
up with schoolwork, as well as her relationship with Lysander and friendship with Helena. Throughout the film, Hermia wears casual every day
clothes. The dress she wears is a flower patterned one, which happens
to be a motif throughout the film as well as in the actual play. In addition, the flowing material of the dress depicts a playful, free-flowing
character representing a side of Hermia which is not focused in school.
As for shoes, Hermia wears simple gladiator sandals, which shows her
confidence and ability to make decisions for herself.

Lysander is shown to be the most care-free , but still a popular

character throughout this film. He wears a pair of shorts and sports
shoes, showing his athletic nature. The simple cotton shirt he wears
also enhances his care-free personality. The star-wars print on the front
of it shows his inner geekiness. Lysander and Hermia both stand out
throughout the film because of their light colored clothes, which contrasts with Helenas darker outfit.

Lysander

Helena

In this film, Helena is portrayed as the popular girls best friend. In

a way, the film rotates around the fact that although she is her best
friend, Helena is jealous of Hermias popularity on a daily basis. For
this reason, she is shown to be wearing many necklaces, rings and
long earrings, by which she hopes to win over Demetrius. The rough
material of the jean skirt she wears represents her tough skin. This is
ironic as she lets a simple thing like, a boy, get in between her friendship with Hemia. The black top she wears symbolizes the darkness
within her, as she runs after someone who never really appreciates her.
As for the shoes, the simple Vans represents her original self, the one
that is not paranoid about things like love. In general, Helenas outfit is
much edgier than Hermias, representing how the characters are different; Helena being more outgoing and straight-to-the-point, while Hermia is more modest and quite.

PROPS
In numerous famous movies and plays,
props were used to foreshadow the future and connect various events and also have a representation and prediction of a certain feeling, a person or
place. Props are what allows the audience to understand the staged scene better and give them a
stronger sense of each character and their personalities. In this scene of Lysander, Hermia and Helena, various different props were used as explained below.

PROPS USED

Hermias Math Test Paper

As the it girl of the school, Hermia is a girl
in a position of stress. Especially over perfect grades and test papers. The test paper as a prop, represents this. As Hermia
continues to obsess over her bad test, it
represents the control the grade has over
her and how something to little can change
someones mood in a split second.

Lockers
The locker opens and inside are more
books, this shows that the characters are
students and their neat lockers represent
their clean and organized personalities.
The locker is yet another object to showcase Hermias character furthermore. Hermia reorganizing her locker at the end of
that day is a sign of her orderly behavior.
Whereas Helena, instead of walking to her
locker like Hermia did, was out of class
late, and on her phone the whole time. This
compares the two characters and their different behavior, how one is more edgy and
the other is more behaved and well ordered.

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Backpack + Books
These two props bring out the characteristics of Helena and Hermia. By observing
the props, the fact that they are both carrying a pile of books shows how they care a
lot about school and their grades. This also
gives the audience an expression that
these kids are very hard working, competitive and are great student examples.

Phones
The phone is a prop for Lysander and Hermia. This prop shows the audience a
stronger side of love where it can not only
be expressed through actions but through
devices like a phone to show the act of
kindness and caring. Normally, by showing
affection physically would be enough, but
because Lysanders character is very caring and has a care-free nature, he couldnt
help but text to make sure if Hermia is alright.

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STAGING/BLOCKING

Hermia exits the classroom

Lysander walks to the red couches, and sits down at the

middle one. Hermia comes from the classroom to the same
place.

Lysander and Hermia walk to the staircase

together

Lysander and Hermia walk down 2 sets of stairs.

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Lysander and Hermia walk out of the stair

case and to the lockers. Helena comes out of
the classroom.

Hermia, Lysander and Helena walk to the

couches on the second floor from the lockers.
Hermia and Lysander continue that way together.

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MUSIC

HELLO FRIDAY:
FLO RIDA FT.
JASON
DERULO

In our video we open with a song which is uplifting

and happy. This song is Hello Friday by Flo Rida. Also
the time is Friday after school. The reason why we use
an uplifting song about Friday is because everyone is
happy when it comes to Friday. Friday marks the end
of countless hours working/studying and starts the
weekend. This song sets the mood for the beginning
of our whole story which is a happy one.

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CLUB CANT
HANDLE ME:
FLO RIDA

After Lysander convinces Hermia to go to the formal,

Lysander is happy and deep down, even with all the
struggle, so is Hermia. With this song Hermia and
Lysander agree with both going to the formal and both
feel happy towards each other. This also foreshadows
that even though things happen, such as Hermia not
wanting to go to the formal, Lysander finds a way to
solve things. This is represented by the part where the
song says Club cant handle me right now.
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I WONT LET
YOU WALK
AWAY: MAKO
FT. MADISON
BEER

In the end for the closing we use the song Won't Let
You Walk Away because thats when everything is resolved. The song put sets a mood as if everything is
alright. Lysander and Hermia are happy together and
Helena seems to be okay with Demetrius not loving
her, although deep down she is still struggling internally. This ends the video kind of on a happy ending
even thought Helena still struggles a bit the sound of
the music feels like something nice has been
achieved and even thought not everything is perfect,
life is good.

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SCRIPT

REFLECTIONS
Anagha
Grace
Ben

Reflection Anagha

While working on this project along with Grace and Ben, I was fully in
charge of organizing the costumes, writing the setting and character descriptions (along with Grace), re-writing the script using the right format and putting
together all the different components to create the Directors Notebook.
Throughout our film, we explored the same theme as the one expressed
in the original text, love. Through the usage of relationship between characters,
our interpretation of Shakespeares act 1 scene 1 of Midsummer Nights Dream,
conveys the message that when love comes between the best of friends, it can
cause conflicts. In our interpretation, the characters Hermia (played by myself)
and Lysander (played by Ben) have feelings for one another. But unlike the
original text, they dont plan to run away, instead the dilemma Lysander faces
is how and when to ask Hermia to the formal. Similar to the text, Helena
(played by Grace) is jealous of the attention Hermia receives from Demetrius.
The way I portrayed my character, Hermia was as a modest, all rounded
high school girl, whom everyone admired. In this beginning of this scene, she
says nothing's going [her] way (6), and is shown to be worrying about her
test grade, displaying a studious student. To express her annoyance through
her posture, Hermia is shown to be sitting cross-armed, and slouched on the
couch. Throughout the film, there are a lot of scenes where Hermia faces her
back to the camera. For example, when Lysander tries to persuade her into
coming to the formal, she stands up and look down at him and says you can't
tell me what to do, these are my decisions, not yours (12), portraying her confidence and mental strength. Overall, she moves around a lot and uses different
stances depending on the subtext of the script.
While thinking about the costume, I had to refer back to the subtexts of
the script and make sure to use suitable clothing for the characters depending
on their personalities. To convey Helenas jealous, and on-the-edge character,
I decided to make her wear dark colored clothes. Her outfit in general much
more casual than Hermias, representing how she doesnt care about what she
does. Hermia, on the other hand, wears a free-flowing flower patterned dress
which conveys her easy-going personality. But in contrary to that, the way she
holds her books and her bag throughout the film symbolizes a studious student. Her semi-formal attire represents two sides of her personality, one which
is more focused and determined and the other which is less serious. As for
Lysander, he just wears casual, everyday clothes, showing his comfort in the
school environment, especially towards the end of the year. The light colors
also reflect his personality as it shows his care-free nature.

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Reflection Grace

In creation of the Directors Notebook my main role was to prepare the

props and sets of the scene, edit the script by completing the subtext, and
piecing together the video with Ben S. I also participated in writing the full
script along with the rest of the group and compiled a music cue-sheet to ensure our performance was organized along with the music cues. In addition,
I significantly contributed to writing character and setting descriptions along
with the context and how the characters related to those in *A Midsummer
Nights Dream *(along with Anagha). Furthermore, I also had full responsibility during the filming process and made sure all the acts were in order.
Moreover, I helped Anagha with the thesis statement and piecing together
the Directors Notebook by providing Anagha with images.
In writing some of the script, and inserting the full subtext throughout
the whole script, I had to make sure to use the appropriate subtext for the
lines and the actions for the characters depending on their personalities.
Also, based on their characterization, each character had different subtext,
certain movements and attitudes to perform throughout the play. An example of this can be seen with my character, Helena. Helenas character does
not care very much about what she says and this can be seen in her body
language and actions and facial expressions. Helenas attitude towards her
friend Hermia is rather different then what friendship nowadays are like. I
wrote the script in a clear, detailed method allowing the actors to have accurate understanding of the meaning behind the script throughout the play.
Through the usage of relationship between characters, our interpretation of Shakespeares act1 scene1, conveys the message that love can
sometimes come between friendship and cause conflicts between the best
of friends. Helena is shown to be the second popular high school girl who
everyone admires, after Hermia. Being the jealous character, Helena forces
her best friend Hermia into a confrontation. In this particular scene, she is
shown to be rather jealous and on edge, What did you do to him? Did you
like cast a spell?? You get everything! Like EVERYTHING! Your grades are
perfect, you look perfect, and you get everything you want... (12). Alike, her
body language is very enthusiastic and dramatic much like her behavior of
insecurity and jealousy towards Hermia.
In the analysis of my choice in props, setting, and character description, I demonstrated my understanding of the content and mood of each
scene. I explained and reflected on the characteristics of each character,
their feelings and personalities.

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Reflection Ben

Through the usage of relationship between characters, our interpretation of

Shakespeares act1 scene1, conveys the message that love can sometimes
come between friendship and cause conflicts between the best of friends. In
the original text, Lysander and Hermia plan to both elope together as they are
in love. Later they come across Helena and explain the plan to her which she
is told to keep as a secret. Helena wishes them luck and Lysander and Hermia wish luck to her in hopes of getting Demetrius to love Helena instead of
Hermia. The main theme in this part of the book is pretty obvious. Love.
We keep the theme of love and change the plot. In our interpretation
Lysander and Hermia are still in love and Helena still loves Demetrius whom
doesnt love her back but loves Hermia, however instead of eloping,
Lysander has the plan to go to the formal with Hermia, while Hermia and Helena fight because Demetrius has the plan to ask Hermia to the formal.
When I was doing the blocking I had to keep in mind the way the characters
would feel. So at first Lysander talking to Hermia, Lysander is very passive
and is laid back and very nice, so he wouldnt stand and talk or talk aggressively. Hermia on the other hand at that time was very passive and dominant,
thats why I made her come up while talking to Lysander and stand up. Then
when Helena and Hermia have their discussion I made Helena come keep
walking towards Hermia because she is angry at Hermia. Whilst Hermia
backs off as she is remaining passive. This all helped the acting of the entire
video.
While acting in the video my motions were very simple, yet they expressed
how Lysander is as a person. Lysander in general is a very laid back person,
yet is respectful and fun. This is why when I was acting in scenes I remained
passive by sitting or by talking in a calm tone, not raising my voice. Also
when Hermia says she doesnt want to go to the formal I persuade her, as we
are in love, by using hand gestures. These hand gestures are not sharp or
quick but rather slow and calm. This really portrays Lysanders personality. So
by acting like I did, I persuade the audience that I, Lysander, am very relaxed
and calm and rather friendly too.
I used multiple songs to keep and/or change the mood of the story at different times. By using the songs that we used we created a mood fit for the
scene..

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