‘‘O Bottom, Thou Art Translated’’: Directing a Bilingual Dream in the Marshall Islands

A unique production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was staged in early 2004 by students of the Marshall Islands High School, Majuro, in the Central Pacific. The play’s director, Andrew Garrod, describes the rehearsal process and performance of the play, in which the school students were supported by undergraduates from the Education Department of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, spending a term teaching in the island’s schools. The nature and worth of the learning experienced by the young actors, and their community, are considered in a context where Shakespeare and any kind of dramatic production are little known.