SANDPOINT — True love's path is not straightforward — or smooth.

At least that’s the case when it comes to Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons, whose love story is at the heart of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

The classic comedy is also Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theater's 10th production since its first show in 2022 and its first Shakespeare play. Performances will be held April 3-4, and April 9-12 at the Panida Theater.

"There's a big need for love and joy and laughter in our society now," LPO Rep artistic director Tim Bangle said. "So that's been my focus; let's just have fun and enjoy each other and tell the best story that we possibly can."

"A Midsummer Night’s Dream", which combines English folklore and mythology, was written by Shakespeare around 1595 — likely as a celebratory wedding play. It weaves together three plots: the royal marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta, the chaotic romantic entanglements of four young lovers in an enchanted forest, and a domestic dispute between the fairy monarchs.

While Shakespeare set the original in ancient Athens, Bangle chose New York City in 2026 to give it more of a modern vibe.

"That environment has allowed us to play with a lot of different personas within that world," Bangle said.

The upper-crust Athenians are transformed into the city's business class, and the mechanicals, a group of amateur actors in Shakespeare's rendition of the play, are New York's blue-collar workers. The fairies, including the mischievous Puck, are disguised as street personas, from a street performer to a homeless person.

"They're not normal fairies that have been portrayed typically," Bangle said. "They're a little rough around the edges. They're kind of creepy, like street fairies, a little vibe of nightlife in New York City."

Bangle said the LPO Rep cast is a diverse one, with everyone from experienced performers to new youth actors in their first shows. That diversity has allowed them to focus on different aspects that highlight the story and the characters.

Bangle, who played Theseus during his senior year at Sandpoint High School, said he doesn't remember much of the play from his high school days. He was more focused on his part and remembering his lines.

"But rereading it 30 years later, the thing that stood out to me was the various levels of love that are written into the story," he said. "There's Hermia and Lysander, there's Helena and Demetrius, Hippolyta and Theseus, and Oberon and Titania. But there's also some subtext with other aspects of love woven into it. There's a brief exchange between Oberon and Titania about Hippolyte and Oberon's relationship, and Theseus and Titania's relationship; and then there's the parental kind of love between Titania and her fairies."

While Puck doesn't have a love interest in Shakespeare's telling, Bangle has the jester dance with a mannequin, pretending she's in love.

"So the whole foundation of our story is based off of love and how that plays out," Bangle added.

"We've got this whole new perspective, and it plays like any other play, but it sounds different because it's Shakespearean iambic pentameter," LPO Rep artistic director Tim Bangle said. "… The entire cast is great; we've got a very special group of people."

Among them are Andrew Sorg and Nikki Luttmann as the fairy king and queen Oberon and Titania; Sydney Carlson as Puck; Angel Rogers portrays Lysander; Scott Gossett portrays Theseus; Linnea Ledbetter is Hermia; and Toby Jensen is Helena, and Aiden Phillips is Demetrius. Other cast members include Michael Bigley, Sarah Caruso and Michael Clark.

"The acting in the shows is just phenomenal. These guys are really pulling out all the stops with what they're able to do, and I think they're all excited about the set," Bangle said.

The set, he adds, is spectacular, with LPO Rep's crew pulling out all of the stops.

The stage is transformed into essentially two stages: one featuring the hustle, bustle and massive skyscrapers that epitomize New York City — including the Empire State Building and a miniaturized version of Times Square — and the other half features Central Park, where the enchanted forest scenes take place.

Detailed measurements of the stage allowed LPO Rep to build a set that allows characters to intertwine between the two halves of the stage — running in and out of buildings, hiding behind them or playing in the park one minute and running into a building the next.

"There's just a lot of physicality, and it's pretty stinking funny," he added.

Regardless of what people might think of Shakespeare plays — they are highbrow, hard to understand and stuffy — Bangle said that isn't the case with LPO Rep's production.

Bottom line, he said, it's a whole lot of fun.

"It's not stuffy at all," Bangle said. "It might surprise people how easily it flows because of what we've done with it. We even have a ballet dance in the show to kind of put the kiss on the end of the love stories. We do some videography stuff, a lot of projection elements in the show as well. So it's not normal Shakespeare players on the stage in a British accent."

Information and tickets: lporep.com

    Fairy king and queen Oberon and Titania (Andrew Sorg and Nikki Luttmann) look on in a wooded scene from Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theater’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
  

    Puck, portrayed by Sydney Carlson, takes on a streetwise disguise during a rehearsal of Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theater’s adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
  

    Portrayed by Angel Rogers and Linnea Ledbetter, Lysander proposes to Hermia in a scene from Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theater’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”