Mainstage’s ‘Midsummer’ opens to packed house
By Taylor Kennamer
Arts & Entertainment Assistant Editor

William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the second MainStage production of the season, opened at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7 to a crowded house.

Director Sharon Andrews’ version of the Shakespearean classic is a two-hour spectacle filled with mirth, passion, and pageantry. Transplanted to Celtic Ireland, the Bard’s familiar words take on a new life.

From fairies to royals, the cast is packed with faces familiar to any university theatergoer. The actors convey obvious enthusiasm, although some struggle with the dialogue, specifically senior Ali Ayala as Hippolyta. The true power of the opening performance came from the most experienced cast members, including junior Cary Donaldson (Nick Bottom), junior Jonathan Horvath (Theseus), senior Amber Wiley (Hermia) and sophomore Kate Roberts (Helena).

Donaldson, easily the crowd favorite, had ample opportunity to shine in his role of the Athenian commoner-turned-ass, and turned his final scene into a comic tour-de-force that inspired shouts of laughter.

Wiley and Roberts, likewise, handled their roles very well, as did Horvath, who, though he runs a definite risk of being typecast for the rest of his career, was a joy to watch as he postured and strutted around the stage with an appropriately ducal air.

The most purely enjoyable scenes were those involving the band of workers (senior Nick Ziolkowski, freshmen Mike Kelly, Jacob Lyles and Scotty Candler, junior Zach Hall, and Donaldson), who tumbled onto the stage with unrestrained boisterousness. Also impressive was the chemistry between Wiley and Roberts, particularly in the well executed fight scene.

Neither will the duke’s post-wedding feast be forgotten any time soon, due in no small part to the lively music and dancing of the cast, with particular praise going to the short choreographed number performed by the workers and a little Riverdance action on Donaldson’s part.

The play as a whole is characterized by the eerie, haunting music composed and performed for the occasion by senior Mike Albanese, sophomore Jacob Morris, and junior Brooke Watson, who double as fairies.

The opening scene, which introduces the fairies (senior Erin Wade, freshmen Meagan Hooper and Meredith Ducz, junior Katie Henderson, sophomore Everett Long, Albanese, Watson, and Morris), Oberon, played by senior Lee Briggs, and Titania, played by sophomore Melissa Jones, bears a rather disconcerting resemblance to Cats, as the fairies prowl among the foliage and rocks. The overt sexuality of the fairies and their king and queen is immediately evident, and permeates the entire play.

Sophomore Lee Norris portrays Puck, Oberon’s servant, with a sneering savagery which is startling in its intensity, but which lends that “something new” to the centuries-old play.

The scenic design is impressive and evocative. Upon entering the theater, audience members are confronted with a mammoth Celtic rune. The rune serves as a backdrop for much of the action, and also provided a source of conversation for two nearby spectators, who spent several minutes analyzing its possible symbolic meanings. In addition to the rune, the set contains several bizarrely twisting silver-green rock formations which the fairies use like a playground jungle gym.

The costumes, too, are notable, especially the richly glimmering outfit worn in Scene I by Ayala as Hippolyta.

In addition to the new music, one of Andrews’ innovations is the setting shift, from Athens to Ireland. An obvious Celtic strain runs through the music, and there is something vaguely northern about the fairies’ costumes, but otherwise, the shift is scarcely noticeable, especially since references in the dialogue still refer to the setting as Athens.

With so much to recommend it, no one should be surprised that the Nov. 8, Nov. 9, and Nov. 10 evening performances are nearly sold out. A few seats remain for the Nov. 10 matinee and for Nov. 11, but if you really want to go, putting the theater box office on speed dial might not be a bad idea.