From Sir Peter Hall’s mini-skirted version to Arne Zaslove’s poodle-skirted one, “Midsummer Night’s Dream” has provided a rich palette for directors to paint their own colorful vision.
Director Sheila Daniels’s current production for Seattle Shakespeare Company is no exception. One of Shakespeare’s frothier comedies, Midsummer recounts the tale of two pairs of quarreling lovers and a band of would-be-thespian workmen who invade a wood inhabited by fairies and fall variously under the spell of a magic flower that inspires love, resulting in all kinds of mischief.
Under Daniel’s creative hand, the enchanted wood and its fairy inhabitants take on a sinister tone, and the recasting of Lysander as Lysandra (Christine Marie Brown) adds a contemporary echo to the flight of lesbian couple Hermia (Allison Strickland) and Lysandra to “that place the sharp Athenian law cannot pursue….”
The fairies may speak in Shakespearean couplets, but their eerie, almost animal movement (co-choreographed by Daniels and Peter Dylan O’Connor) and the squawks, grunts and squeals that issue from them are more other than they are human. Heightening this otherness are Jennifer Zeyl’s intricate woven, furred and feathered costumes inspired by the crocheted creations of multi-media artist Mandy Greer who lent two of her headdresses as crowns for the fairy king and queen.
Chris Ensweiler brings energetic physicality to his performance as a raven-like Puck, more predatory than puckish. Reginald Andre Jackson and Amy Thone project mutual animal lust and sensuality as battling fairy royalty Oberon and Titania; they appeared in Seattle Shakespeare’s original 1998 production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream” as battling mortal lovers Demetrius and Helena.
Hilarious both with and without the infamous ass’s head, Todd Jefferson Moore employs his long limbs and Buster Keaton-like deadpan to generate lots of levity as swollen headed weaver Nick Bottom. The actors portraying the mechanicals work well as a group and individually they project realistic human frailties that prevent them from descending into over-the-top buffoonery.
Terri Weagant brings her vulnerable tomboy charm to the role of put-upon Helena, but she may want to tone down the toughness that stood her in such good stead in her role as Melony in Book-It’s “Cider House Rules”. Other cast notables include Trick Danneker portraying Demetrius as an egotistical teen bully and Mike Dooly as dignified but lusty mortal royal Theseus.
Taking advantage of the larger scope afforded by the Intiman Theater, Scenic Designer Andrea Bush and Lighting Designer Ben Zamora work in concert to create spectacular, magical woods. And as usual Robertson Wittmer’s sound design strikes just the right chord, whether casting an eerie fairy spell or announcing the entrance of the discombobulated mechanicals.
Seattle Shakespeare Company’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” plays through November 13 at the Intiman Playhouse at Seattle Center. For more information, go to www.seattleshakespeare.org.
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