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Great acting makes this 'Dream' hip
(by Herb Hammer - May 06, 2010)
THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
Great acting makes this 'Dream' hip
Those who like their Shakespeare pure will be disappointed in the Great Lakes Theater Festival's 1960s-style of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." But director Charles Fee thinks far differently. He's taken the classic Shakespearian comedy straight out of the 1590s and dropped it headlong into the hippie era allowing splashes of Edwardian dress here and there.
While Mr. Fee isn't the first to make daring changes in the time or place these ancient classics appear, he is certainly one of the few who have tried the same setting twice.
In 2003, when the festival performed at the Ohio Theatre, the director did virtually the same thing he is doing today at the Hanna Theatre.
So here we have the mid-1960s with Beatles music and the entrance of Bottom atop a Volkswagen Beetle. This may not be to your liking, and it isn't to mine either. We even have some of the same actors playing the same roles they played seven years ago.
One would be hard-pressed to compare the 1590s to the 1960s, but Mr. Fee believes good times prevailed in both.
For me, Beatles music played between the many scenes takes more away from the story of the love-struck youths than it adds. And the Strawberry Fields looking more like a field of hay hardly takes the place of the mysterious woods of the original.
The acting makes up for much of the flaws.
Andrew May, however, who played Bottom so wonderfully in the 2003 production, is no longer here. In fact, Mr. May, arguably the best actor around, may soon be run out of town.
Dudley Swetland, another Play House veteran, is again a scene stealer as he is spotted playing several roles.
Those who appreciate their Shakespeare with a little extra dash won't be disappointed. Actually, Shakespeare these days is more often done in unusual settings than the attempts to produce them to the bard's liking. And Beatles fans will certainly have a good time.
There have been several interpretations of the "Dream." A few musical versions have also been attempted over the years. Here the story remains much the same as the original. The dialogue and the memorable love potion on the eyelids is right on.
As Hermina and her lover escape into the forest, the plot thickens immediately. The combination of fairies and an itinerate acting troupe keeps the plot complicated. But love is in the air, the fairies disappear, and all ends happily, though lovers have by now changed places.
Though costumes by Star Maxley and sets by Gage Williams are puzzling, the acting carries the day and makes this "Midsummer Night's Dream" worth another look.
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