by Matt Keeley. @reallymattkeeley.
CUSTER, SD - Custer High School sophomore Dylan Mercer recently celebrated his first speaking role in the spring production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream playing Lysander, a part which would eventually serve as his computer password for the next decade of his life.
“Lysander is like the main lover guy, and with a ton of lines. It’ll be a lot of work, but I’m gonna make this part a 'part' of myself!” beamed Mercer, basking in the budding treasured memory and uncommon enough name to also fit the eight character minimum standard for most accounts. “You gotta ask certain questions to understand the character. Like, what elementary school did he attend? What was the name of his first pet? What was the name of the town where he was born? Athens, duh.”
Fellow students confirmed the remaining members of the ensemble were all mutual friends of Mercer, whose shared experiences would be subconsciously commemorated upon the setup of his personal laptop before college.
“I’m so stoked to play Puck and mess with Dylan. You couldn’t have picked a funnier guy,” lauded senior Eric Palmer, whose locker number would later serve as substitutions to satisfy numerical character requirements. “It’ll be my last show before I graduate, and we finally get to act together. I hope we keep a part of this play with us forever. Even in some small, yet essential way, critical to life in the Information Age.”
The play’s director, honors English teacher Theresa Perkins, shared an equal enthusiasm for Mercer’s role in the production.
“Dylan really brought it in his audition. I can see him taking the role and making it his own,” stated Perkins, who successfully persuaded the school superintendent to allow a kiddie pool filled with water onstage for the lovers to fall into at Mercer's suggestion. “That’s what’s important for me at least. I hope he can look back in ten years’ time and still think of this play fondly, even if it’s only to access his Gmail account.”
Mercer’s performance would go on to become a formative adolescent memory, as well as the primary firewall safeguarding his personal information until his MFA thesis performance as Mercutio.