London Free Press, June 02, 2004
An opening night's dream
By: Noel Gallagher
Lord, what fools those mortals be for love in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Likewise, it's easy for an audience to be enamoured of the enchanting edition of Shakespeare's romantic comedy that opened the 2004 Stratford Festival last night.
Directed by Leon Rubin, the high-energy entertainment draws on magic tricks, comic hijinks and circus acts to enliven the dizzying tale of lovers becoming lunatics in their desperate pursuit of soulmates.
Ironically, the playful plot's initial setting is the placid palace of Theseus (Jonathan Goad), the very proper Duke of Athens preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta (Dana Green), queen of the Amazons.
Among their subjects are "beauteous" Hermia (Nazneen Contractor), in love with Lysander (Jeffrey Wetsch) but committed by her stern father to wed Demetrius (Haysam Kadri), who, in turn, is resisting the aggressive affection of Helena (Michelle Giroux).
This four-sided, unrequited love scenario moves, on one magical, mysterious summer's evening, to the dark, wild woods, transformed here by designer John Pennoyer into a dreamy, visually stunning rainforest.
The supernatural domain is ruled by fairy king Oberon (Goad) whose tempestuous relationship with his vivacious queen, Titania (Green), parallels the uneasy Theseus-Hippolyta pairing.
Stratford's recreation of this fantasy world features some spectacular aspects such as trapeze bars and bungee cords that allow the fairies to "fly" high above the Festival Theatre stage.
"The course of true love never did run smooth" and gets more bumpy when Oberon and his mischievous assistant, the elf Puck (Nicolas Van Burek), play pranks on the hapless humans who have ventured into this moonlit realm.
Puck's misuse of a love potion creates surprising complications, none more amusing than Titania's sudden, amorous devotion to the local weaver Nick Bottom (Thom Marriott). He and his fellow tradesmen are preparing an amateur entertainment for the duke's wedding reception.
This festival offering boasts several strong acting performances, most notably Goad's as Oberon, Giroux as lovesick Helena and Brendan Averett as Flute in the campy play-within-a-play.
Marriott is the inner play's main attraction, commanding the stage with boundless comedic energy, yet also delivering the play's central theme: "Reason and love keep little company nowadays."