Reviewed by Tony Annicone
Dean College’s School for the Arts winter show of the year is “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare. It was suggested by “A Knight’s Tale” from Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” and was written between 1594 and 1596. It portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur performers. Moonlight, magic and midsummer madness infect the lovers, tradesmen and fairies in this tale.
It takes place in and around the Duke’s palace and the moonlit forest of Athens. The plot revolves around Theseus, the King of Athens impending marriage to Hippolyta, an Amazon warrior. It also concerns the lovers. Hermia loves Lysander, but is promised to Demetrius by her mother, Egea and when she refuses to marry him, Egea complains to Theseus who orders Hermia to obey her mother’s wishes or die. Hermia and Lysander run off together to the woods where they are pursued by her friend, Helena and Demetrius, whom she loves and to whom she has told of the lovers plan to escape. The four of them are lost in the woods and set upon by mischievous fairies led by the young prankster, Puck who wreaks havoc with the people caught in there. It is orchestrated by Oberon, the king with mayhem resulting. Oberon is distracted with his own problems with his lover, Titania, the queen and he plays a major practical joke on her. Add in the hilarious country bumpkins practicing a tragic comedy for the Duke’s nuptials and you have the ingredients for the laugh riot that follows. Director Daniel Kozar takes his college students on a whirlwind trip in an hour and forty five minutes of one of Bard’s best known shows. It will help you escape from your current day problems into the magical world of the past.
Daniel supplies the necessary slapstick antics to pull off this show with his talented cast. Daniel also made the multitude of beautiful costumes for this show.The fight sequences by Jim Beauregard are marvelous, too. One of the comic characters in this show is Zachery Carme as Bottom, the weaver. His line delivery is funny and definitely what Shakespeare ordered for this role. His antics come through even with donkey mask on. The tradespeople scenes are hysterically funny especially the closing one where the lovers comically kill themselves at the wedding of the prince. Think “Romeo and Juliet” done comically and you have the ingredients for their wacky antics. The death scene is a show stopper when Bottom kills himself. Also funny is when a stuffed dog is killed accidentally. The fellow comedians include Brendan Procal as Snug, the lion who roars on cue, Dillon Brown as Snout, the wall, Anastasia LaFrance as Quince the supposed director of Pyramus and Thisbe but keeps getting interrupted by Bottom, and an hilarious Sean Foote as Flute who dons a drag outfit to play the damsel in distress, Thisbe. The antics have to be seen to be believed especially the high pitched voice and death scene antics.
The young lovers do topnotch work in their roles, too. Jessica Luhmann as Helena who has unrequited love for him, Bryant Vasquez as Lysander who is confused and endearing and Megan Moore as Hermia who is full of righteous indignation when her mother wants her to marry a man that she doesn’t love. (Sasha Ernst alternates in the role of Hermia) They shine in their scenes especially when running through the woods. Their physical humor is topnotch and includes pratfalls, fighting with each other, calling each other names. Hermia’s strict mother, Egea is excellently played by Denique Goodyear who demands his daughter marry Demetrius or be put to death. She commands the stage in this role. Also commanding the stage is Kelly Robertson as Titania, the queen of the fairies. Kelly shines in her scenes, playing them with a light comic touch especially in the falling in love with a jack ass scene. Tyler Jahumpa plays the huge role of Oberon as he lords it over the other creatures in the woods. Both of them show great depth in these roles. Michael Sackman also shines as Theseus, the Duke while Gioia Sabatinelli does a nice job as Hippolyta, the Amazon. Matt Speed plays the mischief maker, Puck who throws fairy dust on the wrong lovers which creates chaos and elicits many laughs. (Malachi Peters alternates in the role of Puck) So for an excellent evening of Shakespeare’s comic romp, be sure to catch “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Dean College.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (22 to 26 February)
Dean College, School for the Arts, 109 West Central Street, Franklin, MA
1(508)541-1605 or www.dean.edu
