A Midsummer Night's Dream: an exuberant and colourful 40th anniversary celebration
11 Aug 2023

by Drew Rowsome - Photos by Dahlia Katz

Unleashing a youthful cast on a candy-coloured neon-accented set in the midst of a warm summer evening, proves to be a dream of a way to present Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Once the initial necessary exposition is out of the way and the sky darkens, we are transported into a comical romp through a magical fairyland. The plot, full of holes and inexplicable contrivances, barely matters, and when the language proves unwieldy, there is adroit physical comedy to illustrate and illuminate. There is a vague ecological thematic underpinning, but when even the trash bag props are candy-coloured, this A Midsummer Night's Dream is as easy on the brain as it is on the eyes. From the opening introductory dance number to the broad comedy of the theatrical satire finale, the action never stops. And the fantastical becomes, if not plausible, delightful.

The cast initially appear to be maintenance workers (the land acknowledgment includes a spiel about picking up litter that blossoms into the evening's first clever gag) but very quickly they transform into the characters they are playing. In a similar manner the apparent debris around the stage becomes part of the set. As the night encroaches, the graffiti and stained glass elements which initially clash, meld into a recycled whole. The costumes by Jackie Chou are underpinned with twinkle lights in rainbow colours and what was thrift store chic becomes dreamy couture. Particularly witty are dime store umbrellas elevated to twirling accents, a gas can magic potion dispenser, and fly swatters as weapons. What has been carefully curated and thought out appears to have been conjured out of whatever was at hand. It is an invitation, like the youthful cast, to be a part of the show, as if we could do it ourselves. A lot of care by director Jamie Robinson (Copy That), Chou (who is also responsible for the set design) and lighting designer Logan Raju Cracknell has gone into making everything appear casually shabbily chic.

The cast is so busy having and delivering a good time, that occasional lapses in clear diction and rhythm are barely noticeable. They manage to make the pratfalls and emotions seem spontaneous and real. In a play involving obsessive instantaneous love, that is a big advantage. Bottom, played by a gregarious Aaron Willis, leads the crowd in a cracked karaoke riff on Queen's "We Will Rock You," that appears to have been invented on the spot. It is another clever touch to have the rude mechanicals introduced with distorted guitar leading to a gratuitous but welcome guitar solo that makes an ass of rock star pomposity. Willis also makes a grasping overly ambitious actor charming instead of obnoxious. And achieves the same when he imperiously milks his position as the unlikely lust object of Louisa Zhu's besotted but still regal Tatania. Bottom's subversion of Peter Quince's dubious authority is a comic delight. Ryan G Hinds (Lilies, MacArthur Park Suite, Bent), who turns Quince into an applause-seeking ham, gets his revenge for any upstaging with an entrance worthy of the fairy he essays. That is until Zhu rocks that neon rainbow number.

The meekest mechanical, Angel Lo, garners the biggest laugh with her deadpan, bravely disasterous performance as a wall. Megan Legesse flings herself gawkily across the stage before transforming into a regal Helena who is worthy of the extreme infatuations she is subject to. Her suitors, Frank Chung and Stuart Hetford, are a vaudevillian team as they compete frantically in an uproarious competition of masculine sensuality and bombast. Steven Hao is a mischievous Puck whose glee in ineptly carrying the orders of Shelly Antony's smug Oberon is infectious. The cast's enthusiasm and delight in communicating that enthusiasm bounces across the footlights. It is as if the love-in-idleness flower potion has been misted into the audience as we all fall under the spell, and a little bit in love, with each of the remarkably attractive cast members. A Midsummer Night's Dream was a prudent choice to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Shakespeare in High Park. Keeping it deceptively simple, exuberant and brightly coloured, is genius.