The Wake

With a dark silence, Puck leapt to the stage, popped a balloon and introduced Stephen Kanee’s interpretation and direction of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While the play maintains all of Shakespeare’s poetic intentions, a few modern spins and a faster pace make the play fly by with levity.

The play maintains the lovers’ conflict, the mystical fairy realm, and the troupe of horrible actors that this Shaekesperean comedy is known for. The way the actors brought the characters to life combined with stage direction makes the play easy to follow and enjoy, as the entire emphasis is not constantly on the words, but rather the actions. The four lovers, Hermia and Lysander; Demetrius and Helena, have such discourse in their relationships that they literally throw each other about the stage. Their actions appear violent, but are so well-constructed and choreographed that they are literally dancing. The fairies provide a refreshing contrast in their darkness and devilry. The fairies in Titania’s service appear sinister yet likable, but crawl across the stage rather than flit and are ghastly in appearance. Puck, the messenger of the fairy king Oberon, is a creature from a darker world, with a tinge of mysticism that perfectly narrates portions of the play, by mixing the two worlds of humans and fairies with mischief.

The acting troupe within the play is the focal point of humor, and is made up of characters so consumed by their quirks that the audience rolled with laughter at their every motion. Bottom, the main actor of the group, romps the stage with arrogance, yet is a terrible thespian whose play is laughable in its attempt to be serious. The plot of their play is more outrageous than the actors. There is an inexplicable lion, a wall for a character, and an actor who plays the moon. The character of the moon is made to be hilarious, as the actor appears timid and holds a lantern to represent the moon, as well as a dog and a bush to make clear he is the man on the moon. If this sounds befuddling, it is, but therein lies the humor.

References to modern things like Altoids and the use of a revolver serve as a mild reference and are not doted upon. Their lack of explanation made them seem out of place. The brief, out of context use of a Scottish and Irish accent accompanied by a jig are applied in a similar manner and caused jeering from the audience.

This interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was presented through the 20th of November, then beginning again on January 27th and is being performed by U students. The play, while an age-old form of entertainment, has modern flare and action. The actors create an atmosphere of audience inclusion by darting through the aisles and rows, and occasionally speaking directly to audience members. This combined with the hilarity that the play and actors bring, make this performance anything but dull and dry, and is well worth the few hours spent in a dream.