The cast of “A Misummer Night’s Dream.” Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography.
Everyman Theatre ends another great season with a surprising “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Directed by Associate Artistic Director Noah Himmelstein and adapted by Gavin Witt, this is a very different, but no less charming and funny, take on Shakespeare’s fan-favorite comedy. An introduction from Associate Artistic Director and Resident Company member, Paige Hernandez, warns the audience to keep our arms and legs out of the aisles for this ride.
…charming and funny…The creatives have outdone themselves…The entire cast does a superb job…
Four cast members, dressed in casual, contemporary clothing, come down the aisles onto what looks like a stage not in use, or about to be, with a large chandelier on the floor and chairs stacked together. One of the actors puts a cassette tape into an old boom box and out comes the 1987 song, “Seven Wonders” by Fleetwood Mac, bringing back memories and signaling that this may be mine or yours (or your parents’) “Midsummer.” Music, mostly from the 80s (David Bowie, Spandau Ballet, Jefferson Starship, Puck playing guitar and singing Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”) is sprinkled all through the play. We are then whisked away, as the four actors are by dancing fairies, into the magical and hilarious world of Shakespeare.
The creatives have outdone themselves. The gorgeous costumes by David Burdick are a hybrid of the bright, electric colors of the 80s and styles of the 70s, including flowery prints, macramé vests, and bellbottoms for the Rude Mechanicals and Tatiana’s fairies-in waiting. For the male lovers and the human/fairy king, Burdick cleverly picks up on the Victorian influences (military style jackets and ruffled shirts) made popular by 80s pop music icons like Adam Ant and Michael Jackson. Puck is half punk and half faun, with a sleeveless black jacket and pants of multiple layers of fringe. For the men, Burdick uses more muted silver, gold, and copper colors, playing off of the copper of the metal, abstract trees on the walls and sliders used in the set. (Cheers to the team who helped with the many quick change of the actors.)
The set has to be one of the most stunning of Daniel Ettinger creations, and he has designed so many. The majority of it is a large, open clock with Roman numerals, slightly tilted, and half of it seemingly embedded into the stage. It creates a large arch with many dimensions, allowing for the beautiful work of lighting designer AJA M. Jackson. The colors are deep teals and purples with an ombre effect. When magic occurs, tiny white lights, embedded into the walls, blink, like stars in the sky. Strategically placed columns allow for the Rude Mechanicals’ backdrop to be hung for their play. There is a grand set of doors to the left and stairs to another door to the right with more trees on either side which become ladders for climbing. Lanterns with white Christmas lights inside, like fireflies, hang over the audience. They move in and out of the set and utilized to great effect.
The story introduces Hippolyta and Theseus (the elegant duo of Andreá Bellamore who also plays the fairy queen, Titania, and René Thornton Jr., also the Fairy King, in their Everyman debuts) on the eve of their wedding. The four actors who opened the play appear before the royals as the two sets of lovers. Athenian law makes Hermia (the small but feisty, Natalya Lynette Ratham) essentially the property of her stern father, Egeus (James Whalen) and has put her in an impossible situation. Her father insists she marry Demetrius (Resident Company member Jefferson A. Russell) who loves her but whom she does not love, or else the law also says she must be put to death (Hippolyta is visibly upset by all of this and at her future husband). Hermia loves Lysander (Resident Company member, Bruce Randolph Nelson), who loves her back. Poor, insecure Helena (Resident Company member Deborah Hazlett) loves Demetrius and the more he spurns her, the more she loves him. Hermia and Lysander concoct a plan, complete with their backpacks and pillows, to run away, that evening, into the forest and onto a future together. They tell Helena who then tells Demetrius.
Meanwhile, five, working-class fellows are doing a play, “The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe,” to honor the king and queen’s nuptials. An enthusiastic Quince, (Resident Company Member Hannah Kelly, who also plays Cobweb and Moonshine), hands out the roles to her fellow actors—Flute, who puts the sexy into the role of Thisbe (Suzanna Catherine Fox who also plays Peaseblossom), Snout (James Whalen, also Mustard Seed and a brilliant Wall), and a very reluctant and deadpan Snug (Resident Company member Helen Hedman, also Moth and Lion). Rounding out the group is Bottom (Resident Company member Tony Nam), who has a penchant for mixing up his verbs, overacting, and wants to perform every role. The troupe decides to meet in the forest to rehearse at the same time the four lovers begin their chase in the woods.
Rounding out the characters is the fairy Puck (Resident Company member Zack Powell, also Philostrate), who does Oberon’s bidding, creating a world of mischief for the lovers, Bottom, and Titania. To punish his queen for taking in and doting on an orphan child (a life-size puppet operated by the fairies), Oberon instructs Puck to put the oil of a flower on the sleeping eyes of his queen which will cause her to fall in love with the first thing she sees when she wakes. When Oberon comes crosses paths with the lovers, he decides to help Helena and have Puck do the same to Demetrius. Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and when Helena wakes him, he is now fervently in love with her and loathes the sight of Hermia. To correct the situation, Puck also gives Demetrius the potion. It all comes to head in an hysterical scene, with Demetrius and Lysander all over Helena (who thinks everyone is in on this bad joke) as Hermia comes onto the scene and the lovers battle it out. Meanwhile, Puck has given Bottom the head of an a*s and, under the flower’s spell, Titania has made him her lover.
This inevitably untangles itself and everyone is transformed in more ways than one—but there is more joy to be had with the Rude Mechanicals performing their play for all the happy couples. It is laugh-out funny, concluding with Bottom giving us his best—and longest—death scene. The entire cast does a superb job, also adding some very funny asides, physical comedy, and a bit of ad libbing.
What is most lovely is the democracy of the casting which is about as diverse as a play could be, notably in regards to age. The majority of the actors are much older than the young lovers or child fairies we have come to expect. Perhaps some of them came of age in the 70s and 80s—or earlier. Magic, love, and dreams move across all of time and transforms all of us in one way or another. The production also makes this nostalgic for those of us who did come of age in a simpler time full of possibilities, romance in our hearts, dreams in our heads—and when the music was awesome, for sure!
Running Time: Approximately two hours with one 15-minute intermission.
Advisory: Mild adult content.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” runs through June 9, 2024, at Everyman Theatre, 315 West Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. Fore more information and to purchase tickets, call the Box Office at 410-752-2208, Monday–Friday, 10 am – 4 pm and Saturday, 12-4 pm), email boxoffice@everymantheatre.org, or go online.
