Newport High School’s Drama Program presents a unique interpretation of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” this spring.

The play runs March 24-25 and April 6-7 at 7 p.m. and a matinee performance on March 25 at 2 p.m. at Newport High School, 4333 Factoria Blvd. SE. Tickets are $10 for adults.

Originally set in ancient Athens with characters based on Greek mythology, “Midsummer” also features a parallel, magical world ruled by the King and Queen of Fairies.

It is among the most beloved and frequently-produced plays of all time. Breaking with tradition, Newport High School sets its version in the 1950s when, like the society in Shakespeare’s original, strict social codes were challenged by an underground culture.

In Newport’s interpretation, the magical fairies are transformed into poetry-spouting beatniks in an urban underground, the “nobility” consists of a wealthy and powerful man who controls his subordinates’ (especially women’s) fate from the height of his penthouse and the working-class “mechanical” characters become blue collar factory laborers.

Music of the 1950s plays a major role in this production, from the pop hits of Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers to the country classics of Tennessee Ernie Ford and Kitty Welles and the cool jazz of Miles Davis and Dave Bruebeck.