first night review: a midsummer night's dream @ the lupin theatre

Photo: Mary Guiteras

A Midsummer Night's Dream @ The Lupin Theatre
Review by Dorian Hatchett

"The course of true love never did run smooth," Declares Athenian Duke Theseus.  With a dash of supernatural meddling, and more than a little pageantry, we’re about to find out just how un-smooth it can be.  

One of the Bard’s most popular plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a mainstay of Shakespeare-focused productions around the world. I am a vocal proponent of the idea that any adaptation of his work that makes it more accessible to the common man is in line with his vision. A delight from curtain to curtain call,  this production manages to be both a faithful adherent to the text, and to completely captivate the audience.  

In addition to a cast who not just learned their lines, but really seemed to deeply understand the real meaning behind those words, this production has something I didn't know I needed until I saw it play out in front of me: evil fairies.  

For most of history, the Fae have been depicted as mischievous bordering on malevolent. The pretty, flight-granting Tinkerbelles of modern literature stand (fly?) in sharp contrast to the changeling-switching, name-stealing, eternal-enslaving members of the fairy courts of old. When the lights dimmed and the courts of Oberon and Titania met in the wood in a flurry of black light savagery and animal furs and feathers, I knew this director (Graham Burk) was a kindred spirit.   

Oberon is played by Burton Tedesco. His rendition is as nuanced as it is powerful. Equal parts wistful elder statesman and whimsically evil fairy lord, he is the the kind of powerful that is confident enough to admit when he's made a mistake.  

Puck (James Bartelle) owns the stage with a frenetic energy that is equal parts hilarious and terrifying. Manic giggling sounds bereft of mirth, unless he’s talking about the ways he leads mortals asunder. "Lord, what fools these mortals be!" sounds like an opportunity for fun, coming from Puck.  

The Athenians were sincere and lovelorn. Their delivery of the lines was accompanied by a casually haughty body language that spoke of a life of privilege, and that made their confusion all the more delicious. Their passions are sincere, if a little addled by magic, and it was a joy to watch them command the material.   

Shakespeare frequently used a device called “metadrama” (the play within a play) to segue between acts and scenes, and these vignettes are often overlooked or not afforded any real care by adaptations. In this production, though, the “most tragical comedy of Pyramus and Thisbe” is a raucous farce that is both “tedious and brief,” as promised. Bottom the weaver (Ian Hoch) and his company have more character development in a dozen lines than some plays manage in two full acts.  

While this show is certainly familiar to most fans of Shakespeare, every staging brings its own focus to the story, and this is one not to be missed.  

A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs July 10th through 27th at the Lupin Theatre at Tulane University. Click here for information and ticketing.

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