impulsereader | A Midsummer Night's Dream (Reply)

Last night we saw this production of Midsummer Night’s Dream which was pretty standard in spite of itself.

Before I start – quick note to point out that Titania/Ass!Bottom is a variant on Beauty and the Beast – one of the only comedic instances of this pairing perhaps?

I think the director wanted to be bold and controversial; he invoked Freud and gave us a delightfully doubled cast. An – eventually - androgenous Puck took on the role of the psychiatrist and began our performance by cranking up the victrola – literally - to play us the standard ‘please be considerate to your fellow playgoers’ message. The not-forest scenes were set in 1920, so Freud is clad in an appropriate suit and extravagantly puffing on a cigar as the victrola asks us not to smoke in the theater.

Said director also decided to switch up the order of the first two scenes - per the program- seeking a gentler introduction to the work. I suspect he realized the best part of his production lay in the ‘mechanicals’ who in this production are a group of guys who get together to play music in their down time and have decided putting on a play for the Duke’s upcoming nuptials is a snazzy idea. Everyone but Bottom and the director of their play doubles later as a fairy attending Titania.

So Bottom is thoroughly fantastic, as are all his fellows. I’m not going to be able to convey the comedy this group successfully pulled off and I’m not even going to try – just trust me – they were hilarious and thoroughly worth the price of the tickets.

So now we get the scene at Court where we meet the Duke and his captive prospective Duchess, who are each restrained as is appropriate. Enter outraged father eager to see his daughter offed if she does not bend to his will.

Hermia annoys me almost to the point where I’m on her father’s side. I’ve decided this is the character rather than any particular actress because I have this response every time I see this play. Is there no departure to this character? Must she always be shrill and determined as well as low and dwarfish? I suppose, by her very nature, that she must. Sigh. Oh well. This Helena wasn’t bad and the lads were entertaining so we’ll count it a win on percentages at least.

Right. So there’s Freud mixing with the nobles and giving Helena an audience for once as she decides to betray Hermia’s plans to flee Athens in order to keep Demeterius in her sights. As we move into the enchanted forest, he strips down to Puck-wear to reveal – as you have already guessed because he’s remarkably short – a woman playing the part so that we can have both breasts and an overstated fake ‘package’ to make this point clear from the beginning. I actually like the idea of a Puck who is both male and female, I just think doing it entirely with costuming is a bit clumsy. Also, they give him a long necktie made of hair which creeped me out completely for the whole of the first half of this production. The purpose of this was eventually made clear when he clipped it onto Bottom’s bottom as a donkey tail.

So into the forest we all go. This was done on an almost completely bare set with a backdrop of a large screen on which we got basically ‘feel’ images, a grand staircase at court – I don’t even remember what the forest was – a woobly 1960-ish graphic whenever Oberon or Puck does their flower thing – a close-up of some haybales while the mechanicals rehearse. But we do get a slightly dramatic moment as the large rug covering the stage is pulled up into the air to make a bordello-like ceiling – a second rug remains on stage as there’s lots of bare feet inevitably involved in this play.

And here I really encounter some issues – aside from Puck’s creepy tie – I’m not buying Oberon. I want to; I really, really want to. I like the actor as the Duke – though if I stop to think about it he’s not channeling ‘conquering warrior’ to the degree he should be – he’s leaving Broad to Puck and I just – I don’t know – maybe he’s not commanding enough? I can’t quite place it, but he’s not doing it for me. In contrast, Titania rocks. Maybe this is it – I needed them to be more evenly matched and Oberon just wasn’t bringing as much game as Titania. That, and I do think he’s playing the Duke as ultra restrained, and he didn’t quite let up enough with the switch. Oberon comes off as restrained; but he’s a fairy king, and he’s supposed to be an angry one – I don’t think I got that from him at all in this production.

Okay, moving on. This is a first that I’ve seen – they had this cute, tiny little boy - I’d say just old enough to walk on his own fairly reliably - playing the gypsy child who is causing the rift between our royal fairy lovers. This gave Titania a delightful chance to pick up the child, swing him around, and make funny faces at him as she tells us of his mother, her beloved companion who – being mortal – has died in the birthing of him. She raises him for the sake of her lost friend and will not give him up to Oberon thankyouverymuch. It’s a great addition to this scene, it really is, giving us this cute little boy to give her reason for this argument a face and get the audience to really care. Unfortunately, it also makes it creepy that eventually Oberon tricks her out of sole custody and ends up taking the boy away from her.

This is where the fairly standard kicks in in force. What I was really struck by is how much time some actors spend during the play watching other actors acting this play. ‘I am invisible’ Oberon tells us, leaving him free to sink down into his skirts – yes, voluminous orange skirts, the costuming was phenomenal, as is usual at ChicagoShakes, and the fairy contingent formed a collective rainbow when they appeared onstage all together in their first scene – and watch the antics the mortals proceed to enact. Obviously at the end of the play the six lovers all sit and watch a fairly extensive production of the mechanicals’ play – and actually, this Duke and his Hippolyta use this time to make a convincing show of tentative affection, giving us hope for a successful union, so good on them.

So fairly standard means that you don’t need me to continue detailing. Bottom and Titania are particularly fun to watch because both actors are stellar and giving fantastic performances. The final play done by the Mechanicals is hilarious – with Wall practically bringing down the house. Music is incorporated really well, and Thisbe reaches new levels of hilarious, singing suggestively and grinding up against Wall. Moon’s dog is a sock puppet here and he makes sure it sings/howls along with the rest of the company. It was great and I really could never convey it in words. We also get a great moment as Hippolyta and Bottom come face to face as he leaves and – ‘um – crap – that dream I had last night – wow’ – the actress playing Hippolyta gives us gold here. Oh – it was particulary fun to watch Puck undress the lovers at the end of the forest scenes – I didn’t check the text so I’m not sure how interpretive that was, but he ghosts each of them and strips them – it was definitely a fun idea done well.

The program helpfully informed me of a production done by the RSC in 1970 in which the set "consisted of a three-sided, brilliantly lit white box, and actors were also circus performers, poised on trapezes or running along the tops of the set's walls." That - I would really like to have seen.