A Midsummer Night's Dream

I attended the April 11th performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the ASC at their Pay What You Will show. The house was almost full... the first floor was full and the balcony was filling. The audience seemed to have a lot of young folk in it, and they brought a LOT of energy with them. Throughout the show, they participated in the show in a great way, even calling out advice to the actors occasionally (when Puck looked like he was going to cure Demetrius's eyes of the love potion, the audience clamored at him to stop).

The director's note in the program described their approach to the show as "ridiculous". It certainly was... but a bit too much for my taste. The events themselves were ridiculous, without the actors becoming more like clownish charactures than characters.

I liked the choice for the relationship between Theseus and Hippolyta. Hippolyta tackles him in the first scene, demonstrating a dynamic that makes their marriage happy, rather than uncomfortable. I'm glad to see something other than the "unwilling bride" the text lends itself to. I was a little surprised, however, not to see the typical double casting of Theseus/Oberon, although they did double Hippolyta/Titania.

Denice and Jake Mahler played Hermia and Lysander, a beautiful coupling. They did a lovely job, and personally knowing they were married made their love for each other that much sweeter. Helena took some time to settle into her character. She had some trouble with projection and dropping her voice at the end of her lines, and the large, loud audience did not do her any favors in that respect. However, by the time Act Three rolled around, she was a believable and likeable Helena.

Me, and the audience, adored Rick Blunt as Bottom. His complete lack of inhibition was perfect for the role, although I wished the director had pulled him back a bit. This also goes for the rest of the mechanicals (minus Snout, who had been cut from the script). They seemed like clowns, or children. I liked the imagination and energy of the actors, but again, I would have liked them to make their acting "smaller". Bottom's "ass" voice was annoying, and I would have preferred a lighter hand.

The costume design for the fairies was strictly Indian clothing. I agree with this choice... mostly. I think it's a good way of clarify references to India that Titania makes. However, this also runs the risk of "exoticising" the East, which is a careful balance. Other references to the Indian culture included their forms of dance. The songs that occurred throughout the show, set to the lyrics in the script, were surprisingly beautiful. Puck, played by Michael Amendola, was very dynamic, and rarely pushed his character to far. He took a visible glee in the mischief he caused, and was just a joy to watch.

In conclusion, I felt like this Midsummer was more a farce than a comedy. My own personal taste is much more for the witty comedy, rather than clownish behavior, but I recognize that is my own bias. The audience seemed to love it, but for my own part, I would wish for more controlled performances. I would still recommend seeing this play, simply because of the imaginative choices of the actors, their dynamic energy, and wholehearted abandon in performing this play. No matter how many times I see this play, simple lines will still make me laugh... like "I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all!"