By Carol Davis
ENCINITAS, California — If anyone ever told me that I would be sitting through a performance of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and listening to the small group of wandering wanna be actors doo whopping to “Life Could Be a Dream, Shaboom”, I would have called them out for it. And if they also told me that the show would be jam-packed with pop music from the 50’s (“At Last”, ”Earth Angel”, “So Happy Together”, “Why Do fools Fall in Love”, “Cupid Please Hear my Cry”(and let your arrows fly) and “You Don’t Own Me”) I would have pooh, poohed them.
But that’s exactly what happened in this fun-filled and highly physical production of one of Shakespeare’s oft-produced plays A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Musical). And the company bringing this all to you, tongue in cheek, is none other than Intrepid Shakespeare Company of Encinitas!
Just briefly, A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the most part is just that, a dream play. And dreams take on many layers and this production is no different. The story starts off on a rather frantic note. Theses/Oberon (Sean Cox), Duke of Athens is planning a four-day wedding celebration in honor of his marriage to Hippolyta, /Titania (Sandy Campbell) queen of the Amazons.
While arranging the entertainment Egeus, (Danny Campbell) comes to the court with his daughter Hermia (Lauren King is perfect) demanding that she marry Demetrius (Brian Mackey, always a standout actor) even though she loves Lysander (Kevin Kooperman-Gue got this just right). If she doesn’t, she either goes to the convent or…well.
Not down with either alternative but to run away, Hermia and Lysander run off into the forest together to get married. Before they leave, they tell Helena, (Rin Ehlers is fine as the hyper-lover) Hermia’s best friend, of their plan. Helena just happens to be in love with Demetrius who is in love with Hermia and all four head off in pursuit of… well, it’s Shakespeare.
While all this is going on a group of misfits, or craftsmen led by Peter Quince (Eddie Yaroch) are rehearsing for a play, “Pyramus and Thisbe”, to be presented before the wedding party of Theseus and Hippolyta in the hopes of getting paid. David McBean, Antonio ‘TJ’ Johnson and Savvy Scopelletti are also part of the acting group who finally do get to perform at the wedding after some hilarious missteps.
But leave it to Shakespeare to have them all meet up at some point in the forest. Here’s where the fun begins, especially if you believe in fairy tales (and fairies), magic (and magic love potions) dreams coming true and happy endings.
OK! There’s more. Nothing in Shakespeare is simple and this classic comedy is no different but under Christy Yael and Colleen Kollar-Smith’s very clever direction this little musical speeds along at a very fast clip leaving some of Shakespeare’s sub plots in the dust yet putting in enough of what matters for this production into the equation to make it look like (classic) Shakespeare, but not to worry. We all get the gist of it and no one is the worse for it.
Moving along, things are jelling in the forest. Thesus is there with the rest of the gang but is now Oberon king of the fairies and Hippolyta; queen of the fairies is now called Titania. They, the fairies, are there to bless (you guessed it) Hippolyta and Thesus on their up coming marriage.
Since Oberon/Theseus and Titania/Hippolyta weren’t on the best of terms (“You Don’t Own Me”) before things turned upside down in the forest, Oberon decides to play a little joke on Titania. He has jester Puck (Taylor Peckham, who is musical director and plays a mean piano), spread some nectar from a magical flower on Titania while she is sleeping so she will fall under her own love spell.
When she awakes from her sleep, she will be immediately attracted to the first person she sees when she opens her eyes. It just happens to be Bottom, who by now has had his head transformed into that of an ass by the trickster Puck. He is thoroughly confused himself as Titania swoons “At Last” to Bottom’s befuddled look. This scene is just too funny for words
Impulsive, fun-loving Puck also causes havoc with the four young lovers when he sprinkles the ‘love potion’ onto the sleeping lovers so that when they wake; there will be no mistakes about who belongs to whom. In his haste, though he causes chaos with both sets of lovers by getting that screwed up as well.
The intertwining plots and side stories, (especially the group of wandering actors rehearsing for the entertainment of the Duke’s wedding is almost to much to watch), play themselves out with a splendid cast in particular Tom Stephenson who is simply the most comical and ridiculous of the characters from the craftsmen’s troupe.
Sandy Campbell, whose voice gets better every time I see her and listen to her sing, gives this musical the muscle it needs to succeed. She, along with the band (which at times is a little too loud) gives credence to the fact that with a little TLC anything can be done with most of Shakespeare’s works. Of course Sean Cox, co founder of the company has The Bard’s rhythms, which can be overlooked in all the excitement, intact as Oberon /Thesus.
Taylor Peckham’s Puck is a standout as both trickster and on the keyboards where the piano is suspended from the ceiling, camouflaged with forest-like looking vines and twines artfully designed by Michael McKeon. There are Tarzan-like ropes that several of the characters use to swing from one side of the forest to the other, while giant trees formed by curtain-like material, make this enchanted forest truly special.
The entire cast is well up for this little romp where youth really triumphs. With a little more attention to the sound system and perhaps moving some of the playing area up-stage where more of the audience can see what’s happening just at the feet of those in the front-row seats, less stretching and weaving back and forth would be avoided.
With a thirteen-member cast, five-member band (including Peckham), beautifully illuminated by Curtis Mueller and costumed by Beth Merriman, this “Midsummer” is a fine vehicle for school-aged children as well as those looking for a light, fun filled evening’s worth of entertainment.
Definitely worth a try.
See you at the theatre.
Dates: Through Sept. 23
Organization: Intrepid Shakespeare Company
Phone: 888-781-4253
Production Type: Comedy
Where: 800 Santa Fe Drive, Encinitas (on San Dieguito Academy campus)
Ticket Prices: $15.00-$35.00
Web: intrepidshakespeare.com Venue: Clayton E. Liggett Theatre,
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Davis is a San Diego-based theatre critic. She may be contacted at carol.davis@sdjewishworld.com