[NEohioPAL] REVIEW: Midsummer Night's Dream @ Great Lakes Theatre

[Laura Kennelly]

A Midsummer Night’s Dream @ Playhouse Square, October 6--November 5, 2017

Review by Laura Kennelly

The Great Lakes Theater Midsummer Night’s Dream gives us Shakespeare at his
hilarious (and bawdy) best. In this enchanting Hanna Theatre production
directed by Joseph Hanreddy every silly, comic element melds and spins into
a dream. Under Hanreddy’s guidance, anachronisms (but who cares?) and
traditional elements blend seamlessly to create a fresh look and a
marvelous show.

The identity mix-up plot centers on what happens one summer night to a
combination of royals and commoners. Theseus, Duke of Athens (a regal Nick
Steen) is engaged to Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta (an equally royal
Jillian Kates). Commoners Nick Bottom (an awkward yet earnest David Anthony
Smith) and his friends and fellow bumblers Peter Quince (Tom Ford), Francis
Flue (Mack Shirilla), Robin Starveling (Jodi Dominick), and Tom Snout (Alex
Syiek) strive to create a play for the wedding. (The play itself, which we
also get to see, is a comic dessert served at drama’s end.)

Now add to the confusion, four young people who lead a complicated romantic
life.

It seems Hermia (a pretty and flighty Michelle Pauker) has enraged her
father Egeus (a blustering Aled Davies) because she’s fallen for Lysander
(super-cool Corey Mach). Mach’s comic  slacker  Lysander couldn’t care less
about being proper--he saunters out chewing gum--which he sticks on a beam
and later retrieves--and he’s very hip (fist-bumps and all). It’s easy to
see why Davies thinks him a bad match for his precious Hermia. Her father’s
candidate, Demetrius (an earnest Jon Loya) also loves Hermia, but she
scorns him. And then there’s Helena (Keri Rene Fuller) who has a crush on
Demetrius. Fuller’s Helena shines as a prototype for all the nerdy beauties
hidden behind glasses (she sports a giant pair) who also have a heart of
gold.

One midsummer night, all individually venture into the forest that
surrounds Athens.

Events that follow might serve as a caution about going into the forest
after dark: It’s dangerous. Fairies do roam there and they are fiercer than
one might imagine. They also love to tease mortals.

It seems that in the forest a less than happy Fairy King Oberon (Steen) and
his Queen (Kates) have had a big spat. Oberon delegates his careless
servant Puck (M. A. Taylor) to put flower juice into the eyes of first
Lysander and then Demetrius. Since flower juice makes one love whomever
they see first, they both fall for Helena. Oberon then plays the same prank
on his wife, and she develops a passion for Bottom, who has been enchanted
at Oberon’s command. Bottom now sports donkey ears, a tail, and other
reputedly sexy parts of an ass. Kates and Smith make comic hay of the
situation, creating genuinely funny scenes. Bottom has the time of his life.

After much romping and merriment, dawn comes, enchantment falls, and the
lovers find their soulmates, there’s a wedding or two and, of course, all
ends happily.

Costumes by Rachel Laritz, especially Titania’s sheer and sparkly gown worn
with magnificent flair by Kates, create magic of their own. Scenic designer
Scott Bradley, lighting designer Rick Martin, and sound designers and
composers Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen all add to the magic.

Bottom (as it were) Line: Absolutely delightful escape into Shakespeare at
his funniest. It’s a magic world out there. Highly recommended.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream continues, alternating with *The Hunchback of
Notre Dame*, through November 5 at the Hanna Theatre.



Laura Kennelly
440- 973-6636
Berea, OH 44017

Cool Cleveland Reviews <http://coolcleveland.com/search/laura+Kennelly>
artstillmatters.com <http://artstillmatters.blogspot.com/>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20171011/fda3b93c/attachment.htm>