A Midsummer Night’s Dream
One of the most popular of all Shakespeare’s plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows the events surrounding the marriage of Duke Theseus, the misadventures of two sets of lovers lost in the forest along with a band of homespun, blue collar actors and the fairies that torment them all for some good natured fun. Unlike most of the Bard’s work, Midsummer has no clear source material and is one of the few plays of his written about magic. Perhaps these are just a few of the reasons theatre companies and audiences alike return to this play so often.
The Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble presents their take as part of their inaugural Shakespeare on The Deck summer presentation. Under the direction of Corps Artist Jonathan Redding, it is simple in production values but huge on heart and soul. Done a bare stage much the way the Bard himself would have, in modern dress along the lines of a hip So Cal variety, and using only a few lights plus the beautiful setting sun, the production value add to focus on the work of this very gifted cast.
There is not a weak link among them, but a few stand outs were found among the different groups of players. Chase McKenna as Helena, ruled the humor and honesty of her private moments as well as any time we saw her onstage alone with Blake Anthony’s subtle and emotionally torn Demetrius. It was small details like this one looks for in seeing an old work made new again, and Anthony’s performance gave you the feeling there was something between he and Helena before Hermia came along.
Brian Ruppenkamp’s Puck was a pure delight. His “too cool for school” attitude played in perfect harmony with Joshua Green’s slightly harder, almost gangster Oberon. This pair had some of the funniest moments in the whole production. And then there is Bottom. The center piece of any great Midsummer production and Kyle Cadman does not disappoint. In fact he commands an amazing group of Rude Mechanicals who keep the laughter going until the final moments of the play with a very funny surprise ending which you simply need to see.