With a wonderful script such as Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, a simple presentational concept, actors who can speak the lines, and adequate direction go a long way toward the success of the show. If you can bring these three elements together while keeping out of the way of the Bard's sparkling dialogue, an enjoyable evening will follow. Director Peggy Oels has given The Shakespeare Theatre's production the Grecian period as a starting point, she has cast several good actors and a few that are not quite so, and streamlined the script to allow for spritely pacing. The result is a show that, with a few exceptions, is basically sweet and funny.
The strength of this show, put together on a shoestring and having survived a few key cast replacements, lies in its women and its rude mechanicals. This is a production that is carried by its Hermia and Helena, both of whom, Dee Rich and Bronwyn Schile, are obviously having fun with their roles. Powerful of voice and rich with irony, Ms. Schile plays a wounded Helena well, while Ms. Rich handles her character's quick changes of attitude and situation quite engagingly. Out-and-out hilarious are the presentations of the sextet that makes up the play-within-the-play. Led by Bruce Alvin as an over-the-top Bottom, the rude mechanicals are broadly played and great for that choice. Mr. Alvin brays through his role, his very attitude and gait bringing the audience to laughter. Equal to this great comic performance is the more understated, though equally enjoyable performance of Josh DeRocher, who plays the role of Flute with timidity and Thisbee with a childish reticence. These performances guarantee the success of the evening. Ms. Oels draws solid performances from many others in the cast. Jason Barth is a sinister, libidinous Puck, though that choice is not without merit. It certainly helps to make up for the complete lack of a choice by John Michael Slook as Puck's boss, Oberon. Mr. Slook so lacks charisma, he acts like a random audience member who has been picked and put into costume. Andi Watson is definitely better as the comely Titania, although her and Ms. Oel's choice to incorporate certain reads of self-aware sarcasm into her entranced dealings with Bottom are inexplicable and unjustifiable. As Lysander and Demetrius, Steven Adami and Michael C. Stewart are not quite up to the level of their female opposites. Mr. Adami overplays a bit, especially in the bewitched scene, while Mr. Stewart is too reserved.
In the original productions, the Athenian court was portrayed by the same actors as those in the Fairy court. Modern productions split the roles, and in this, the Athenian court is the weakest of the ensembles. Thomas Britt's Theseus is a brash, one note tyrant, while Carolyn Parson overplays her reluctant Hippolyta to a point that makes her seem like a refugee from another production. Thomas Wooler is the weakest speaker in the cast, not doing justice to the Bard's words as the outraged Egeus. The gaggle of fairies is quite cute, though, and Donna Bennett gives them basic choreography.
Richard Hardt's set is one-trick, but it's a good one. Andrew Hutchinson's lighting, Ms. Oel's costumes, and John S. Jones III's sound are successful.
While there are problems with this production, there are also things to enjoy about it. The lady lovers and the comic creation of The Tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe are the highlights to this uneven production.
Production Details:
A Midsummer Night's Dream by
William Shakespeare
The
Shakespeare Theatre
Ironwood High School, Glendale (For
a map to location, click this
link)
(602) 272-0931
September 12th - 29th, 2001