Standing in the staggering heat outside the Allen Bales Theatre, there was no way to prepare for what lay beyond the double doors. We all knew, as we stood fanning ourselves with whatever spare paper we could dig out of our purses and pockets, that we were there to see a play. We knew it was a Shakespearean play. We even knew it would be in a different language, (for the English speaking attendees, that is,) but as the stage lights lowered, and silence flooded the room, there was a strong sense of anticipation that hovered over the crowd as each person slowly drank in the realization that the performance we were about to see was more than anything we’d mulled over in that torrid heat. This performance was, in every sense, history in the making, and we were there to witness it.

“Like a wonderful love child.” As director Seth Panitch took the stage to speak before the play began, those are the words he used to describe what this project had been to him and those involved. Panitch, as well as half the cast and the crew of “Un Sueno de una Noche de Verano” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) even up to five days before work had to begin on the play, were not positive this project would ever make it to the stage.

"We had the go ahead from the Cuban government; all that was left was to get word from the American government,” Panitch said. “Then I got word saying ‘Get ready, not only is it going to happen, but it’s going to happen on schedule!’”

The play, a co-production of the University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences and the National Office of Scenic Arts of Cuba, showcased a half Cuban cast and crew. The production marked the first time that a group of Cuban performers have been allowed in the U.S. since 2003; and last year, as Panitch traveled to Cuba to direct “The Merchant of Venice” as a part of the University of Alabama Cuba Initiative, he became the first American to direct a show in Cuba in 50 years.

Though it is most commonly believed that things get lost in translation, the talented cast delivered the beloved comedy with such pivotal performances that the language barrier seemed to vanish. Sitting in the crowd, I was not, so much, paying attention to the literal words being spoken (though my six years of Spanish did prove somewhat useful.) Rather, I was pulled in by the passion displayed on stage.

Within the first five minutes of the production, as one of the actress’s eyes filled with tears at the thought of having to marry someone she didn’t love, I was hooked- fully and completely- totally enthralled by the characters struggle to embrace and accept true love.

Set in the 1960’s, an era of free love where alternative members of society: artists, musicians or anyone who dared to dance outside the designated box, were forced to retreat from a society that failed to embrace their way of life; the play worked to draw parallels between both the story line and literal relationships we see manifested in our world today.

As the relationship between Cuba and America continues to be strained, it is Panitch and his contemporary’s hope, that through future acts to unite the two countries, we will eventually see peace. Yarlo Ruiz, the Cuban actor who played Thesus and Oberon, is doing his part to see this vision through to fruition saying, “Theater is the universal language,” one which, through movements such as those piloted by Panitch and his co-workers will ensure the actions being taken to forge the gap between Cuba and America will be more than the elusive “Dream” to which the character of Puck refers in the final moments of the play.

by Jennifer Jeffcoat