A story of college student filmmakers based on Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is the winner of the First Annual Notre Dame College Performing Arts New Play Festival.
The previously unproduced theatrical work “Midnite” by Reina Hardy and Rory Leahy will be presented as a world premiere on Saturday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Regina Auditorium on the College campus. The performances serve as the opening of Notre Dame’s spring 2020 Joan Cronin Regan #NDCPerforms Series.
The winning play follows a group of college film majors who venture into the woods to make an ill-advised horror movie and encounter supernatural forces of love and madness similar to the Shakespearian stage comedy classic. Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 for seniors and students and free for Notre Dame students.
Notre Dame’s inaugural New Play Festival, which took place in November on the College campus, included the presentation of three unpublished theatrical works relevant to youth today. In addition to “Midnite,” the national finalists were“#gunsense”by Clarinda Ross and “Bunnyboy” by Philip Kaplan. These scripts were selected by committee from nearly 500 plays and musicals from across the country submitted to the competition.
During the free festival, the finalists were evaluated by a panel of industry professionals, festival participants and through an audience ballot. The three votes were combined and “Midnite” was chosen as Festival Winner. Playwrights Reina Hardy and Rory Leahy will receive a $500 prize courtesy of this year’s festival sponsor, Notre Dame Performing Arts.
With more than 200 attendees at the two-day festival, the three, never-before-seen works were given readings by members of the Notre Dame theatre program, staged by directing students under the guidance of Pierre-Jacques Brault, Mercury Theatre Company’s artistic director and director of theatre studies at the College.
For more information about Notre Dame’s New Play Festival, the College’s performing arts programs or Mercury Theatre Company, email performingarts@ndc.edu or visit NDCPerforms.com.
updated February 2020
December 2019
About Notre Dame College
For almost a century, Notre Dame College has educated a diverse population in the liberal arts for personal, professional and global responsibility. Founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1922, the College has grown strategically to keep pace with the rapidly changing needs of students and the dramatic changes in higher education. But it has never lost sight of its emphasis on teaching students not only how to make a good living but also how to live a good life.
Today, the College offers bachelor’s degrees in 30 disciplines plus a variety of master’s degrees, certification programs and continuing and professional development programs for adult learners on campus and online. Notre Dame College offers NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletic programs for men and women and is located in a picturesque residential neighborhood just 25 minutes from the heart of Cleveland. Hallmarks of the Notre Dame experience include stimulating academics, personalized attention of dedicated faculty and staff, and small class sizes.