A Midsummer Night’s Dream @ Stolen Shakespeare Festival 2023
Photos by Jennifer Stewart
—Jan Farrington
An older gentleman behind me sounded worried about the plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Stolen Shakespeare Guild’s “Festival 2023.” “It’s so convoluted,” he said to his companion. For once, I kept quiet—sure that within minutes, he’d know exactly what was going on…and be having a roaring good time.
Midsummer is, to me, Shakespeare’s easiest and most accessible comedy—and that’s a compliment, not a put-down. Here, he dials back on the puns and wordplay (which must have been a challenge even for people in pantaloons and ruffs, not to mention “moderns” like us), and concentrates on humans—lovely, varied, goofy humans in all their particular iterations.
Midsummer is about love, and the crazy mixed-up things we do to have it. And SSG’s latest version is as fresh and funny as I’ve seen from them lately. Directed by Jule Nelson-Duac with SSG co-artistic heads Jason and Lauren Morgan, it’s full of young people vibrating with life and love, older people determined to interfere, and fairies (with occasionally good intentions) trying to sort things out…and making a terrible hash of it all.
And then there’s Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow), who serves the Fairy King Oberon. Not part of the regular fairy “crew” around Oberon and his Queen Titania, Puck is a singularity—a cool and clever sprite who’s up for anything…especially for a laugh.
Oh, and about that convoluted plot? The old gentleman was correct: in print, the story is a bit much. But here goes nothing: In ancient Athens, Hermia and Lysander are in love. But Hermia’s mother thinks Demetrius, who also loves Hermia, is a better match, though the two young men are equally well-born. The whole mishegoss goes before the Athenian Duke Theseus, who is busy planning his wedding to the conquered Amazon Queen Hippolyta. Still, he takes time to warn Hermia she must marry her parents’ choice, or else. Lysander & Hermia run away—to a forest, because it’s Shakespeare.
Hermia’s school bestie Helena loves Demetrius (the one Hermia doesn’t want). Demetrius used to be Helena’s guy (he said, anyway)—and though he’s changed, she’s still smitten. Helena tells Demetrius about L&H’s forest elopement, and they run into the woods as well.
And the forest is full of fairies. King Oberon tries to help the sad lovers with some flower-juice magic. Puck (sent to execute the plan) makes things worse for the humans. Oberon pranks his Queen, Titania, by trying the flower magic on her—with asinine results. (Oops, there’s a pun.) And everyone chases everyone, both hither and yon.
Okay, that’s probably enough—except to add that we also meet a group of workingmen (“mechanicals”) rehearsing a play in the woods. And you can still, after four centuries, feel how much fun Will Shakespeare is having with these amateur actors—and with the truly terrible little “tragedy” he writes for them to perform at Theseus’ wedding festivities.
Of all Shakespeare’s comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream feels like the one he wrote in the pub, with his theater friends around him laughing, joking—and maybe adding a plot point or two.
Samantha Snow as Hermia and Cory Carter as Helena are delightful as “the girls”—two childhood friends now on the outs over guys, and carrying all the little resentments of a long friendship. Hermia’s always been the pretty one, Helena gripes. Helena is taller, and Hermia complains she’s made to feel small—though she later turns the tables and calls Helena a “painted Maypole.” Helena has the last word, though: she warns the young men to watch out for Hermia with one of Shakespeare’s best lines: “And though she be but little, she is fierce.”
John Hughes Marshall’s Lysander is a caring, uncomplicated boy; Blake Hametner’s Demetrius (we know he left Helena in the lurch) is pretty full of himself. At one point, they declare they’re going to fight “cheek by jowl” (Shakespeare invented all these phrases)—and literally go offstage in a tango clutch, jaw against jaw.
Adam Michael Thomas is an imposing Oberon with a jokester’s gleam in his eye. Lauren Morgan is a floating and elegant Titania, part of a green garden of fairies in Kari Makoutz’ costuming. (As a bonus, we get to hear Morgan’s lovely soprano for a brief moment.) And Ashley Hawkins makes a sinuous Puck, gleeful and quick in movement, with a slightly eerie eye expression that scans the audience again and again—making us wonder what this not-so-Goodfellow might be planning for us. (The busy fairies include Nancy Lamb, Karen Matheny, Bethany Mejorado, Saffron Makoutz, and Claire Morgan.)
Back in Athens, Theseus and Hippolyta are played with dignity (and a smidge of humor) by Robert Bradford Smith and Jessica Dahl-Colaw; Hermia’s overbearing mother by Laura Jones; and Hermia’s browbeaten father by Nicholas Zebrun.
The “actors” working on their play are a hoot. Jason Morgan is great fun in the role of Nick Bottom, a champion ‘splainer who wants to play every part and direct every scene—overwhelming Derick Snow as the patient organizer Peter Quince. Bottom, of course, is soon dragged into the fairy king’s tricks, becoming Titania’s new love, a donkey she dotes on. Morgan preens, scratches, hee-haws—but remains Nick Bottom, who thinks he’s a pretty cool guy.
Parker Pereira is hilarious as the young workman who plays Thisbe, the lady in their play: he’s indignant at having to put on skirts. Matthew Benton and Will Frederick play “Moonshine” and “Wall” in the tragedy, and Zebrun is the small-voiced “Lion”—all playing with a seriousness that makes us giggle.
Bottom line (ha, another pun): It’s a big cast, and, as I said in an earlier mini-review, “tons of fun.” Kudos to the staging of the show: there’s great energy and life onstage as the young people try to figure out their next moves—and the mostly comic fights are well choreographed. At one point, Hermia is horizontal in the air (held up between Lysander and Demetrius), feet flailing and hands clawing toward her “friend” Helena. Little, but fierce: the visual matches the quote.
Midsummer runs through March 5. Starting February 17, it will rotate performances with the second play of the Stolen Shakespeare Festival, A Winter’s Tale.
WHEN: Festival 2023 closes March 5
WHERE: 1300 Gendy St. (Museum District), Fort Worth
