LaGRANGE – Children from Hillside Montessori of LaGrange had a magical last day of school on Friday with a performance of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’

The students ages 5 to 12, performed the entire play on stage to an awed crowd in the West Side building that is now owned by LaGrange College, and despite their age, the young thespians gave an inspiring performance.

“For many of them this is their first play, and they’ve done a phenomenal job memorizing their Shakespeare,” said Angela Hutchins, who directed the play and teaches music at Hillside Montessori.

This is the first year that Hillside Montessori has put on a play with its students, and the choice of a Shakespearian comedy was largely inspired by older students’ interest in his plays as well as the playwright’s literary and historic significance.

“We had a few goals with this project,” said School Director Bethany Headrick. “We wanted these students – most of whom had never been a part of a play – we wanted them to have a positive experience with the theatre. We also wanted these young kids to develop a familiarity and a respect for the language of William Shakespeare, and I think that while we have not achieved the status of a major theatre company, I think we have achieved those goals in the meantime, and we put together a fun show.”

And in that goal of a fun show they overwhelmingly succeeded, with a mix of fairies, star-crossed lovers and even a talking donkey, it was hard to tell who had more fun, the kids or the audience.

To learn more about Hillside Montessori of LaGrange, visit http://www.hillsidemontessorilagrange.com