NPC To Stage 'The Dreamer' at LongHouse Reserve

The struggle of adolescence is a fairly universal, drama-filled experience, and one that most of us can probably recall in vivid detail from our own youth. The rapid, unpredictable (and generally unwelcome) bodily changes, shifting friendships and an uncertainty about one’s abilities, confidence and place in the world are just some of what teens transitioning into adulthood experience during these awkward years.

And for girls, it can be even more difficult as they learn to cope with the added burden of the monthly reminder of what it means to be an adult.

Seeking to destigmatize and demystify this confusing time for girls as well as the general population, this weekend, Neo-Political Cowgirls, (NPC) the not-for-profit dance theater collective based on the East End, presents “The Dreamer (A ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ as Seen Through the Eyes of a Young Girl)” at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton.

The show comes to East Hampton after enjoying a successful off-Broadway run this past spring at HERE Arts Center in Lower Manhattan. Kate Mueth, the founder of NPC and the director and producer of “The Dreamer,” says that her work typically deals with her own experiences, as well as aiming to represent other unheard voices.

“My art is always to be dealing with myself from my childhood and my younger self,” Mueth said. “It is always looking at: What is it to be human? What is going on in a girl’s head today?”

“We need to understand and encourage younger people to find themselves and learn new things and explore their passions,” she said.

Questions like this propel Mueth’s artistic impulses, and she works alongside her husband — theater professional Josh Gladstone — to make these creative visions into a reality. Gladstone co-directs “The Dreamer” with Mueth, which uses Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” as the jumping off point for exploring the psyche of a 12-year-old girl on the cusp of becoming a woman.

“The Dreamer” production began life last summer as a more simplistic table reading, but it has since grown into this performance that was presented in New York City and is now coming to East Hampton’s LongHouse Reserve.

“It was a reading for the actors, but there were beautiful costumes,” Mueth recalled of the city performance. “We had two nights there, and it fit into our mission because it is through the lens of a young girl. We are doing the shortened Shakespeare version, but we made it playful and centered it around this young woman.”

Although Mueth is confident in the message of her work, she acknowledged that she frequently worries about its success. At the beginning of each of her productions, especially those projects that involve personal experience, she must work through her nerves.

And who wouldn’t be nervous? Changing around well-respected and idolized texts like “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” can be intimidating. There are purists, of course, who believe that the words of Shakespeare should remain untouched, and then there are those who are willing to support creative interpretations or adaptations of the text. Mueth admits that the anticipation of how audiences will respond can create fear or anxiety about the outcome of her work.

“When I make work that is generated from me or brand new work, I get very terrified and sick to my stomach and internally beaten up because I feel exposed,” Mueth said. “I feel very exposed, which is a weird thing because I keep doing it.”

Despite these concerns, Mueth lets the mission of NPC to celebrate and amplifying the human voice drive her work and desire to share it with the public. The company dedicates its efforts to make work for women, BIPOC and other underrepresented groups while simultaneously sharing their unique experiences and perspectives.

“We are in real trouble as a society,” Mueth said. “[Especially] when we start seeing other people as enemies, showing depravity toward other people and being so amplified by hate. Theaters bring us into a shared space where we can find ourselves and be together in spite of skin color or race or ethnicity.”

Or gender, and Mueth aims to bring people together and experience different voices on stage, and with “The Dreamer,” that central voice is a young girl experiencing her first menses.

“[Periods are] such a stigma, and it stays a stigma,” Mueth noted. “It does not get spoken about in society, and in America we do not really have a ritual that is actually healthy and strong and encouraging.”

“The Dreamer,” Mueth noted, aims to ignite the conversation around aspects of the female body like periods and menopause. According to Mueth, one reason she believes that “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” worked so well with her storyline of an adolescent girl is all the moon imagery that occurs throughout the play.

“We are always talking about the moon in the story,” she said. “The idea of this being the girl’s real dream and thinking about the moon and the power of the moon is incredible. It is really fun to play with these images.”

“The Dreamer” will feature performers Vanessa Walters, Rhys Tivey, Trevor Vaughn, Vanessa Lynah, Max Samuels, Amanda Nichols, Stephanie Orta-Vázquez, Dan Kelly, Annie-Sage White, Meaghan Roubichard, Mary Minard, Emma Engel, Jade Diskin, Violet Spann, Alexandra Taylor, Lucia Schwartz and Gigi Grace performing the title role.

“I am really proud,” Mueth said of her cast. “These actors are really fantastic. This is one of the best compilation of actors that I have pulled together. It is a really hard time to be in the theater. I do not know what the future is going to do, but we keep playing and entertaining.”

Performance dates for the limited run of “The Dreamer” are Thursday, Friday and Sunday, August 17, 18 and 20, at 6 p.m. The show takes place outdoors at LongHouse Reserve, 133 Hands Creek Road, East Hampton. Picnics, blankets and low-slung chairs are encouraged. Tickets are $32 ($350 for VIP pods of four people), $25 for senior citizens and those under 18 at npcowgirls.org.