[NEohioPAL] Review of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Geauga Theater

[Bob Abelman]

Geauga Lyric's 'Midsummer' provides a welcome diversion

 

Bob Abelman

 

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,

The Morning Journal, Geauga Times Courier

Member, American Theatre Critics Association 

 

This review will appear in the Herald on 3/16/12

 

 

Life is often full of drama, but we tend muddle through.  When tragedy hits, as it did in Chardon several weeks ago, it shakes you to the core.  

 

The immediate and surrounding communities will never forget what transpired, and will continue to mourn the lost students and ache for their families.  Thankfully, the Geauga Theatre-located in the heart of Chardon on the Square-offers an opportunity to momentarily escape and, perchance, to dream.

 

As the title of the Geauga Lyric Theater Guild's current production suggests, dreams are an important and prevalent theme in William Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream."   The play is an absolutely delightful diversion about two young Athenian couples in love with the wrong partners.  

 

Helena (Sarah Doody) wants Demetrius (Will Mortensen) who wants Hermia (Angela Miloro-Hansen) who wants Lysander (Patrick Collands).  Running from the disapproval of Hermia's father (Wayne Howell) and the strict matrimonial laws of the Duke of Athens (Sean Thompson), the four venture into woods populated by mischievous fairies.  Their timing is unfortunate for, in the fairy world, King Oberon (Jack Warren) is angry at Queen Titania (Patty Osredkar) and he orders his sidekick Puck (Hannah Sellers) to create some magical manipulations of the heart while she sleeps.  

 

The impish Puck's mayhem not only causes Queen Titania to fall madly in love with the first creature she sees but extends to the realm of the human lovers and clueless members of a theater troupe (Randy Hansen, Civia Wiesner, Mark Miloro, Grant Strlich-Waybright, Debbie Tapager, and Stephen Waybright) in town to entertain at the Duke's wedding.  Upon their return to normalcy, and unable to fathom or explain the bizarre events that took place in the forest, the humans attribute the mishaps to the fantasies of slumber, where mortals can mingle with pixies and all sorts of absurdities are possible. 

 

This wonderful pretense is given a delightful presentation by director Mark Cipra and his crew. The audience is immediately transported to another time and another place the moment the curtain opens to reveal an absolutely breathtaking forest scene, designed by Ray Beach, and a population of mischievous occupants adorned with phenomenal costuming by Kelly Miloro.  Cipra's creativity captures the lighthearted spirit of the play and maintains it throughout the evening. 

 

Much of the pleasure of this production comes courtesy of the many children serving as assorted fairies, including Casey Wilcox, A.J. Rogers, Aidan Macaskill, Charlie Marini, and Katie Lazuka.  The sheer quantity of their cuteness offsets their occasional lack of focus on the task at hand, including Ann Fairhurst's choreography and-from time to time-the play itself.  

 

The adults also hold their own.  Shakespeare is challenging stuff for amateur performers, offering a mouthful of heavily perfumed words that can be reduced to a stream of senseless syllables if not handled with care.  This ensemble of players makes "Midsummer" accessible and enjoyable.  It is unclear why several of the Athenians speak with a British accent while everyone else sounds as if they are from Athens, Ohio, but this is a minor concern.

 

Of greater concern is that some performances are awkward affairs, with players offering too much emotion and exaggerated movement when a more natural presentation would better serve the work.

 

Fortunately, other performances are superb.  Warren, whose King Oberon is both commanding and kind, does a wonderful job.  So too does Sellers, who's perfect Puck is bursting with playfulness and moves with an alluring otherworldliness.  Mortensen and Collands, as the male romantic leads, handle their comedic moments and bits of stage fighting with admirable grace and charm. 

 

At the end of the play, as the pixies and humans leave the stage, Puck directly addresses the audience.  She suggests that any hardships created by the ensemble of players in the course of the production can be easily remedied by thinking of them as mere illusion, the stuff of dreams:  

 

"If we shadows have offended/Think but this, and all is mended/That you have but slumber'd here/While these visions did appear/And this weak and idle theme/No more yielding but a dream/Gentles, do not reprehend/If you pardon, we will mend."

 

If only that were as true in life as it is in art.

 

 "A Midsummer Night's Dream," whose production schedule was delayed a week and abbreviated due to recent events, continues through March 18 at the Geauga Theater, 101 Water Street, Chardon.  For tickets, which range from $13 to $15, call 440-286-2255 or visit www.geuagatheater.org.  A benefit performance will be held at 7:30 p.m. on March 15.  A portion of the proceeds will go to the Chardon Healing Fund.
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