A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare

Directed by Jo Devereux
Played by Nico Vicencio-Heap, Shannon Charnock, Adam Eckmier, Alexandra Chappell, Andre Cormier, Scott Merkley, Jen Fraser, Randy Nanjad, Brett Cason, Kathryn Mitchell, Jo Devereux, Jill Evans, Alice Hietla, Penny Evans

A University of Western Ontario Department of English Production
University College Grounds
June 24 – 28, 2008

Having seen another production of this Shakespearean play less than a year ago, I had little enthusiasm for this choice for the annual Summer Shakespeare event.  However, while the company is ill served by the open field treed venue for sound, they have still put on a marvellous show with some gifted performers creating their art with verve and imagination.

In this classic fantasy about love and misunderstanding among mortals and the fairies, the company has chosen a naturalistic tone with a light touch of surrealism in the casting.  For instance, instead of the traditional University College courtyard, the play is performed in a small tree patch in the front lawn of the building, creating a naturalistic setting that is a marked contrast to PassionFool’s more artificial production.  It actually feels like it is taking place in a real world of lush natural beauty and it was aided at the show I saw with the results of a short thunderstorm a few hours before creating an ideal beautiful summer evening with just the right mix of fresh aroma, temperature and humidity.  The surreal touch comes from part of the cast doing double duty as both the humans in the romantic plot double as the fairy characters under the rule of Lord Oberon with some choice humorous anachronisms.  Not only does this allow for an economizing of the cast, but it also creates a welcome parallel with the romantic conflict with the characters doubling for each other in an analogy of the play’s theme of love and obligations and the clashing concepts’ resolution.

However, the aesthetics of the venue do not make up for the serious aural drawbacks of the choice.  While the UC courtyard allows for sounds from the production to be adequately contained while shielding out the worst of the nearby traffic, the front lawn has no such precautions.  As such, I had some difficult hearing the player’s dialogue as there was no echoing the courtyard’s building to amplify their voices.  Even worse, the bus traffic was a near constant, constantly interfering with the noise while a sudden and cacophonous rush of emergency vehicles with sirens and horns sounding full blast was a most unwelcome and ruinous interruption that the traditional venue could have mitigated.

That being said, the players made the best of it with inspired performances.  I was most taken by Randy Nanjad as Bottom who fulfills his role with a delightful enthusiasm as a shameless showboat who can dominate rehearsals with creative exuberance with one breath while taking becoming a human donkey with utterly believable nonchalance in another.  However, Adam Eckmier cuts his own distinctive figure in his multiple roles as Philostrate, Egeus and Peter Quince with an unforgettable scene-chewing enthusiasm that could have created a dentist’s nightmare had there been specific scenery in this minimalistic production.  His voice alone is well suited for the open environment to not only be audible, but strong enough to created a pleasant echo to enhance it.  I can only imagine what thespian marvels he could create on a proper stage.

Of the romantic characters, Jen Fraser is the stand out as Helena with a finely nuanced mix of emotions that range from obsession that gives way to a profound disillusionment as Puck’s botched manipulations traumatize her romantic ideal almost beyond recovery.  She is the emotional fulcrum of the piece and Fraser carries that dramatic weight well to create the moral centre that the drama depends on.  Finally, the performance of this play depends on the quality of the centrepiece character, Puck, and Alice Hietala more than equal to the task.  With a youthful impetuousness, Hietala gives the honoured character life with utter confidence that is rightfully placed with talent delivery of both words and music with some fine recorder playing.  When she gave the closing soliloquy, she put any doubts about the integrity of the Summer Shakespeare to rest like a bad dream I should not have had.

As much as I was disappointed that this traditional July treat was held too early in the year, this play still makes the UWO tradition proud with the best of the university’s students remind all of the magic Bard still has in our dreams and beyond.