Midsummer will welcome VCE students and theatre lovers to Bendigo's Garden for the Future

Bendigo performer Scott Middleton has started his own theatre company - Sheoak Productions - to present a version of A Midsummer Night's Dream in March.

Like his 2020 adaption of Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona, Midsummer is directed by Bendigo's Mandy Ellison and is a shortened version of the original and will be performed in the commedia dell'arte style. It is part of the Victoria Curriculum and Assessment Authority's playlist of works that students can study.

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"I'm happy to be making theatre in Bendigo with professionals and hopefully building on last year's success," Middleton said.

"VCE drama students have to see a show as part of their studies and we are on a list of about six plays they can come and see.

"Last year we attracted schools to Bendigo from Horsham, Shepparton, Echuca and Gisborne that were scattered in regional areas.

"It saves them having to go to Melbourne - they can see what they need to and enjoy the space at the Garden for the Future.

"Two Gents, which we did last year, was a raging success. (This year) is going to work well in our favour given new challenges we have with COVID - being outdoors is the optimal thing at the moment.

"It's a safe enjoyable environment where anyone can bring food and drink, picnic outdoors and enjoy some Shakespeare."

Middleton said being selected again to present a play as part of the VCAA playlist showed that the company had a good product.

He said he hoped the way Midsummer has been adapted created conversation among students.

"We had a lot of students writing last year about what they would do to the work or what they enjoyed," he said.

"Last year's theme was about the treatment of women through the ages, and how there is still a lot of work to do on that front.

"We had a girls school write to us saying the girls were outraged at the ending of play.

"We went as far as we could in terms of trying to solve and resolve one of the main women being assaulted and having her voice taken away in play and gave her song and tried to wrap it up and empower her.

"But some girls were angry we hadn't done enough and said she shouldn't have forgiven him. Having that conversation with the teacher was great.

"To stimulate that conversation is kind of the point - you don't have to always enjoy (theatre), if it stimulates conversation, that's the education side of it for students to analyse what they see and what they would do."

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Midsummer will be performed in a commedia dell-arte style and is set in the 1980s and will follow two fitness tycoons as their work to unite their business.

"The two loves - Theseus and Hippolyta - are fitness moguls," Middleton said.

"Theseus is your male-dominated gym leader and Hippolyta is a Jane Fonda-type aerobic instructor. They are blending their businesses to make a gym inclusive of everybody, which speaks to what we are trying to do with play."

Middleton said his '80s adapted version of Midsummer aimed to examine the relationships of characters. To encourage that some roles have been gender-swapped.

"We pitched it as a concept mid-last year," he said.

"We gender swapped some roles to open up the possibility of people being able to connect to the characters and the different relationships that exist in our society as opposed to just hetero ones.

"We are opening it up to say there is more than just 'hetero love', there is 'all love' in different forms and different ways. It s a very open approach to that.

"We are also having a lot of fun with the 80s themes when was a whole other set of challenges for people who identified as LGBTQIA+. We have made so much progress but the same fundamental issues people face are there."

The company of five performers also take on multiple roles in an effort to represent A Midsummer Night's Dream's large cast.

"It is a challenge but one thing students are studying is transformation of characters," Middleton said.

"So all of us play two or three characters and they change quite quickly.

"Simplistic costume helps us change quickly and the actors have fun playing more than one character. It's fascinating for audiences to see that on stage - that an actor can flick a switch or turn on a dime and transform is what were embracing in this show by having to cover all the characters."

Midsummer is on at the Garden for the Future from March 16 to 20. For tickets visit bendigoregion.com.au/arts-culture-theatres/event/midsummer-in-bendigo

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