Shakespeare at the disco

PUBLISHED by Boston Metro

For her first show as American Repertory Theater director, Diane Paulus wanted to push the envelope and pull in a new audience: the nightlife crowd.

That’s why, staying true to the theater’s mission to “expand the boundaries of theater,” this season at A.R.T. kicks off with “The Donkey Show,” Paulus’ 1970s disco interactive adaptation of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”


“We tend to have a limited conception of what theater is,” says Paulus. “It was a conscious decision to shake up our program this way.”

In “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the characters pursue unattainable lovers in an enchanted forest. In Paulus’ version, co-written by Randy Weiner, the struggles for love are told through the passionate lyrics of disco songs, and the forest is instead a hopping nightclub.

Paulus compares the musical numbers to a group of girlfriends singing along with Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” when they’re out on the town, explaining how ’70s music captures emotion. One scene illustrates the well-known exchange between Helena and Demetrius with the club classic, “Don’t Leave Me This Way” as Helena grovels at her love’s feet.

The show is more social than traditional plays and is meant to show audiences, both old and new, that theater doesn’t always fit into typical conceptions, says Paulus. The actors sing along to the music as a DJ spins, and the audience can go to the dance floor, drink in hand, and get their groove on while watching.

“It’s a very free environment,” says Paulus. “To me, this is more like the way Shakespeare was experienced in his time. In the Globe Theater, you had groundlings that stood on floor — the Elizabethan version of a mosh pit.”

Fresh off a gig in New York City, Paulus brings “The Donkey Show” as one of three original Shakespeare adaptations she’s dubbed “Shakespeare Exploded.” Having toured in London, Madrid and Seoul, Paulus hopes to introduce her work to more conservative regions of the U.S.

“It’s important in educating the Boston audience that the show is unique; it’s a party, but it’s also a show,” says Paulus. “It’s a combination of something to give you something to talk about, but also to have fun with and dance.”

‘The Donkey Show’
Friday through Oct. 31
Oberon Theater
2 Arrow St., Cambridge
617-495-2668
MBTA: Red Line to Harvard
www.americanrepertorytheater.org