All right, here it is: The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s production of A Midwinter Night’s Dream is the funniest damn Dream I’ve ever seen!
Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream has been “re-seasoned” by outgoing Artistic Director Bonnie J. Monte and Joseph Discher. In so doing, Shakespeare’s talent for comedy is given free rein, running the gamut from slapstick to wordplay to quick-change artistry, from snark to wit. The cast looks like they’re enjoying themselves as much as the audience is. It is presented with practiced, polished skill and whip-sharp stage movement under the directorial hand of Brian B. Crowe.
The familiar tale of mismatched lovers, lunatic amateur actors, and mischievous fairies is brought to life by a marvelous troupe of farceurs and comics. Chief among these is David Foubert’s over-the-top Nick Bottom, an ass of a man whose head is conjured into that of an ass by Billie Wyatt’s giggling, prancing Puck. Also Puck’s doing is the use of a love potion so that sweet, timid Hermia (Emily S. Chang) and her impassioned Lysander (Isaac Hickox-Young) are mismatched with lovelorn Helena (Fiona Robberson) and pompous soldier Demetrius (Christian Frost), with both men in love first with one girl and then the other.
Mix these with the fairy courts of coldly privileged Oberon (René Thornton Jr.) and defiant, passionate Titania (Jessica Ires Morris) and Bottom’s acting comrades — Quince (Jeffrey Mark Alkins), Starveling (Darin F. Earl II), Snout (James Francis Egbert), Flute (Keith Hale), and Snug (Eric Hoffmann) — then sit back and watch the comedic fireworks!
The set itself contains magic as well. Set designer Brian Ruggaber, along with lighting designer Andrew Hungerford, has created an open space in blue and white with a pearlescent moon hanging in the sea-blue skies. Gliding beige trees become the forests outside Athens or the court of its duke, Theseus (Thornton), and his Amazonian fiancee Hippolyta (Morris). The costumes, ranging from the fairies’ shimmering gossamer outfits to the Athenians’ more formal court wear, come from the fanciful imagination of designer Yao Chen.
I can’t describe all the delights this show offers without spoiling the surprises for you. All I can do is urge you to buy your tickets now, before it’s too late, for the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ’s riotous season-closer, A Midwinter Night’s Dream!
A Midwinter Night’s Dream is presented by the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre on the campus of Drew University in Madison through Dec. 31, 2023. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit shakespearenj.org or call 973-408-5600.
