The Beat
Breaking Down The Bard’:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream By: Jimbo Ivy
Saying “it’s all been done” seems almost perfunctory when talking about Shakespeare. Given the fact that the Bard’s plays have been public domain for around 400 years, it’s impossible to say how many times a given piece has been staged. Thousands? Tens of Thousands? And these aren’t just any plays. These are some of the greatest artifacts of the English language, exquisitely exploring the totality of human experience. And, as I mentioned, they were written over 400 years ago in a language and meter that is almost removed from our own. These difficulties have been spiritedly thrust to the side it
would seem with the Manhattan Arts Center’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Speaking to the cast and attending a rehearsal, it was clear to this reporter that neither the complexity of the language nor the ubiquitous nature of the play’s history had daunted director Penny Cullers and her band of thespians. The basic thrust of the play is best summed up by Frank Siegle, who plays Aegis, in explaining how his character while only sporadically on stage, essentially starts the whole plot running, “He sets the play rolling; he wants his daughter to marry Demetrius, a noble, but she’s in
4 - October 27, 2011 - www.thehypeweekly.com
love with Lysander, a different noble. So he threatens her with death, but the Duke steps in and says, well, death maybe...or she can go with Demetrius, or she can become a nun. But she doesn’t want any of that. Soooo she and Lysander go off into the forest, and are followed by Demetrius and the woman that loves him, Helena. And it’s in the forest, with the faeries, that everything happens.” The title of the play seems apt, given this brief teaser. The entire plot recalls to my mind half-remember ed dreams upon waking, disjointed and fleeting. When Cullers initially re-read the script in prepa-
ration for the show, she latched upon the idea that throughout the play, it is not readily clear what is fantasy and what is reality. In the space of the first thirty minutes we see lovers switch partners, faerie royalty plotting mischief, and a group of players struggling to affect a production. This confusion, or haphazard synthesis of reality and dream inspired Cullers to emphasize the disjointed nature of reality throughout the show through stage design, multimedia, and costume choices. While one might think this choice would only further confuse an already complex show, the effect is quite the opposite.