File photo This year will mark the 21st performance for Prairie Fire Children’s Theater in New Ulm. Last year, the production was a retelling of Robin Hood. Left to right, Isabelle Miller, Everret Brown, Lydia Meyer, Lexi Schneider and KayLee Evans as Sherwood’s Merry Band sing the opening song “Ain’t Life Easy in Sherwood.”

NEW ULM — The Prairie Fire Children’s Theater (PFCT) is returning to New Ulm next week for a production of “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream,” and the production needs young actors.

Auditions and the first rehearsal are 1-5 p.m. Monday, July 8, at New Ulm High School.

The production takes 60-70 students. At this time 26 students signed up for the play.

Healthy Communities Healthy Youth (HCHY) Director Sheldon Rieke said families who wish to participate can sign up students until 12:30 p.m. Monday before the first auditions. To sign up before Monday, contact Healthy Communities Healthy Youth at 354-8632 or 276-8628.

The production is open to all students entering grades 3-9 this fall. It is free to take part in the production, and every student gets a part.

The PFCT is a group of youth theater directors who travel to different communities each week to organize a performance over the weekend. The production is like a weeklong theater boot camp. Young thespians receive hands-on training for the work it takes to put on a stage production.

Rieke said this is the 21st production performed by the Prairie Fire Children’s Theater and the first New Ulm show based on a Shakespeare play.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a comedy in which two couples and an acting troupe head into the woods and are manipulated by the fairy folk who live there.

Rieke said “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is probably Shakespeare’s funniest play. The play has been reworked for children, but still receives rave reviews in communities where it is performed.

Rehearsals for the play are from 1 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, with the first public performance 7 p.m. Friday, July 12. A second public performance will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 13.

This theater program is presented by United Way of Brown County and Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council and funded by appropriations from the Minnesota Legislature.