All the world's a stage at the Hawai'i Theatre these days.

A cast of 30 actors, representing the new Hawai'i Young Actors' Ensemble, has been involved in a year-long collaborative program involving Maryknoll School and the Hawai'i Theatre Center, leading up to Thursday's presentation of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

"Shakespeare was meant to be staged live, meant to be fun and entertaining," said Hester Kamin, Hawai'i Theatre education director, who will co-direct with Stephanie Conching, arts department and drama teacher at Maryknoll.

The endeavor is all about making Shakespeare accessible, for the student actors and for spectators, and bringing new depth and appreciation to The Bard's most enduring and widely performed romantic comedy about four Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors cohabitating in a magical forest.

"Shakespeare had a rep for being academic and stiff; but his plays are about real people, falling in love, sometimes doing ridiculous things. If, at age 14, you have done Shakespeare, you have peaked. You can do anything else," Kamin said.

Conching said the year's effort addressed the challenges of understanding Shakespeare.

"He had a connection to the past for our students; he uses such interesting symbolism and that became an effort for students to research, to learn iambic pentameter, to know what terms (of the past) meant today," Conching said.

Ten in the cast are from Maryknoll, the others from 10 other campuses. They range in age from 13 to 18.

At 13, home-schooled Caprice Avis is ecstatic about portraying Helena.

"I love her character; she's funny, and a lot like me. Or I'm kinda like her. I think she's a bit flighty, and, well, I'm named Caprice. Capricious," she laughed.

"Having done a lot of Shakespeare when I was part of the Hawaii Home School Association," Avis simply is enchanted in the hidden meanings in the text. When her Young Actors' Ensemble mentors, after class analysis, gave her the role of Helena, she couldn't believe it. "It was meant to be," she said. "I was trying real hard."

Liam Mueller, a 16-year-old Maryknoll junior, appears as Demetrius in "Dream," and likes him because "Demetrius is an interesting character, very unsure of himself, and it's a strange way to play a role of someone of a noble class," he said. "It's a great payoff to be in this production, and the most difficult part was getting to understand what I'm saying."

Mueller said the prep time was vital in "perfecting the art of acting Shakespeare. And it's a great thrill to be performing on the Hawai'i Theatre stage — I've never been on stage, but I've done some tech work there."

Christianne Liongson, another 16-year-old Maryknoll junior, said playing Hermia has been a revelation. "The character is very much like a drama queen," she said. "This makes her seem more dramatic. I suppose I do command a lot of attention in my real life; I'm naturally loud. But I get attention, I don't seek it."

Ian Weir, a home-schooled 15-year-old, said he loved the arc of the learning process in preparing Lysander. "There were different kinds of lines, written so differently," he said of the Shakespearean text. "But it's a lot of fun, learning how to say the lines, mostly old English, and learning of the double meanings. When you analyze, and study, you get the meaning. You go online, to look for lines. That way, you know; you're not just saying them."

Weir adores the character's arrogance and pomposity. "And when you do Shakespeare, you learn not just lines but how to carry yourself, how to stand, how to move." And he's wowed by the wizardry of Shakespeare. "I think he was a genius; he's got hidden jokes everywhere."

The Maryknoll-Hawai'i Theatre collaboration has committed to do Shakespeare's "The Tempest" next year, with the same drill — a year's prep time for youths eager for the Shakespearean experience.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.