A Midsummer Night’s Dream is really the perfect play for the outdoor space at Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum. There is something magical about that theatre, the way it is built into the side of a hill, with the woods stretching off in various directions, from which actors can – and often do – make their entrances and take their exits. It is really one of the most wonderful places in Los Angeles, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to encounter actual fairies and sprites on the grounds. And, understanding that sense of magic, the troupe there regularly returns to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is one of two Shakespeare plays the company has chosen to perform this summer, after the pandemic forced the theatre to remain closed last season, and is a wonderful way to welcome folks back. We can all use a little magic in our lives these days.
This production, directed by Melora Marshall (who also plays Titania), adds more of a musical element, with certain lines and exchanges sung rather than spoken. It works with this play, because there is already that sense of the unreal inherent in the material. The company also exercises some restraint in this regard, and there is not an excessive amount of singing. As the play opens, Hippolyta (Oyemen Ehikhamhen) comes running onto the stage, heading straight downstage center, with Theseus (Jose Donado) following her, a nice way of illustrating the way in which she was wooed in the first place, and establishing the dynamic of that relationship. When Egeus (Tim Halligan) enters, he pulls Hermia (Julia Lisa) in with him. She ends up kneeling in basically the spot that was previously occupied by Hippolyta, leading us to draw a connection between the two characters, something that I don’t recall seeing before. Lysander (Joey Major) joins Hermia there, while Demetrius (Ethan Haslam) stands to the side, at first hardly looking at her, creating an image that makes it quite clear where the love is among this group. After Lysander’s line about her “father’s love,” he and Demetrius scuffle, and it is Hippolyta who finally separates them, which is interesting. Also, this is an early example of how physical a production this one is. And that is part of what makes this production so much fun.
Helena (Sara Mountjoy-Pepka), when making her first entrance, kind of sneaks onto the stage. She is a good head taller than Hermia, which later makes all those jokes about height all the more pointed and strong. She is also the first character to sing her lines, singing “that fair again unsay” all the way to “ere I go.” Then she and Hermia sing their exchange together, before Hermia runs off into the woods upstage, followed by Lysander, leaving Helena alone to deliver her speech about Demetrius. The entire cast is strong, but Helena is absolutely fantastic, and it is during this speech that we first see just how good she is. When she is chasing Demetrius through the woods, she hugs him from behind on “You draw me.” She then crawls around at his feet after the “spaniel” line. One thing I love about the way that scene is handled is that Demetrius is actually sweet when delivering the “To trust the opportunity of night/And the ill counsel of a desert place/With the rich worth of your virginity” lines. We see that he does care about her, at least enough to worry about her, to not want any harm to befall her. It’s excellent to have that moment, so that we can believe at the end that they are actually good for each other. Later, after becoming out of breath in her “fond chase,” Helena sits just downstage of Lysander, and is hilarious when discovering him lying there. Her delivery of “Dead? or asleep?” is fantastic. She shouts out “Dead?” in alarm, and it’s funny that her mind would automatically jump to the worst conclusion, and then quickly follows it with the more mild, more inquisitive, “or asleep?” Hermia is also quite good after waking alone, particularly as she calls out hopefully to the missing Lysander. Her line “I swoon almost with fear” is spoken out to him in the hope that he will hear and react, rather than to herself, a wonderful choice.
When we meet the Mechanicals, most of them enter from behind the audience, with the exception of Quince (Earnestine Phillips). It’s a nice touch, because it feels like they are among us, that a portion of the audience is getting the chance to put on a play. And they are as excited about it as we would be. Of course, Bottom (Thad Geer) is particularly keen on the performance, wanting to play each role as it is mentioned. He is hilarious, choosing certain lines to really punch, such as “I will move storms.” Bottom even leads the others in a song before the rest of the parts are handed out. While the Mechanicals entered from the audience, the fairies enter from the woods, right away showing the extreme difference between those two groups. One of them even enters swinging on a rope. Rather than Puck meeting with one fairy in this scene, as in the text, he meets with four, each of them delivering some of the single fairy’s lines. Also, interestingly, the fairies have the little changeling boy with them. That boy plays a more significant role in this production than in most. Puck (Terrence Wayne, Jr.) proudly proclaims, “I am that merry wanderer of the night,” standing for that line. This Puck takes great delight in both his actions and words, and it is a joy to watch him. Oberon (Lisa Wolpe) and Titania (Melora Marshall) wear somewhat ornate headdresses to show their stations as King and Queen of the fairies, and demonstrate the power each has over the other in their first scene together. Titania sings the story of the changeling boy’s mother. And when Oberon describes to Puck the flower he needs, the lights become purple to match the line “now purple with love’s wound.”
Magic plays an even more important role than usual with this production. When Helena is chasing Demetrius, she basically gives up, until Oberon makes a signal, and then suddenly she stands up and says, “I’ll follow thee and make a heaven of hell.” There are many such moments in this production where the fairies have an effect on the mortals and their actions, and these moments are accompanied by some interesting use of percussion instruments. Of course, those moments are in addition to the uses of magic that we expect, such as when Bottom is transformed into an ass. The donkey head he wears covers most of his head, except his mouth and chin, so that his lines continue to be easily heard and understood. And later Puck actually physically pulls the donkey head off of Bottom (often that is done off stage, or in a spot on stage that is hidden from view) and holds it in his hands. One of my favorite moments of this production is when both Demetrius and Lysander, because of the magic flower, find themselves pining for Helena. Helena delivers her line, “To call me goddess, nymph, divine and rare,/Precious, celestial,” and with each word of that list that she utters, Demetrius and Lysander agree, repeating the word back to her. Helena catches on quickly, and before the end of the line, she is playing with them, as if to see how far they will go, and enjoying hearing herself called the words of her own choosing. It is a delightful and completely hilarious moment, and Helena totally owns it, and owns them (and us, for that matter).
The Mechanicals’ play at the end is also wonderful. Snout (Sky Wahl), in the part of Wall, reacts with such joy when Bottom repeats his name. Those reactions had the entire audience laughing out loud. Bottom actually does quite a good and earnest job in his part as Pyramus, though milking it for all it is worth, extending his death scene as much as possible. At last night’s performance, Tim Frangos filled in for the role of Flute, and did an absolutely commendable job, particularly during this play within a play as Thisbe, following Bottom in extending the death scene. Bottom and Flute are excellent here. For that scene, Demetrius, Helena, Lysander, Hermia and Egeus place themselves just in front of the audience, so they become part of us essentially, as we enjoy the performance. The Mechanicals engage in a dance, and then the couples dance, with Theseus and Hippolyta performing a rather warlike dance, once again reminding us of how they became a couple. Then everyone freezes, while the fairies take the stage. Because this production does not do the usual doubling of the roles of Theseus/Oberon and Hippolyta/Titania, Theseus and Hippolyta are able to remain on stage for this moment and Oberon’s speech, which was great.
This production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is directed by Melora Marshall, and runs through November 7th. Visit the Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum website for the complete schedule. Because of the ongoing pandemic, the performance runs without an intermission, and is just under an hour and a half. Also, masks are required for all those in attendance, regardless of vaccination status.
 | |
| Production photo by Ian Flanders |
No comments:
Post a Comment