Review: A 'Midsummer' to End All Summers

When you think of Shakespeare, do warm, sandy beaches and New England attire come to mind? When you listen to and ponder the elegant language with which Shakespearean characters converse, would you imagine it coming from the mouths of the very people sitting around you? What I'm getting at is: when you think of A Midsummer Night's Dream, would the very scene of Cape Cod ever come to mind?

Well, after seeing one of Shakespeare's most popular plays performed at The Monomoy Theater over in Chatham, the two become basically inseparable and make this, I would say, a rather unprecedented production. This is not only because the show takes place on our very island, but also due to the fashion in which the show is performed: it gives to its audience the traditional presentation of Shakespearean verse while also bringing forth and emphasizing the humor that is already to be found within the text, but doing so in a way which we, as a modern day audience, would find comical. Many are familiar with the story of these three couples who are robbed of their volition but in the end are made happy regardless due not so much to fate, but instead to a mix of unreasonable demands and pesky fairies who have not much else to do than play around with the natural order of things. Combine that with a neat selection of colorful polo shirts and a wicked accent, and Cape Cod is treated to this wonderful rendition of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, presented by The Monomoy Theatre to conclude its 2015 summer season.

Watching Shakespeare's play come to life on the sandy shores of Chatham, Massachusetts is a rather interest thing to behold. Hippolyta lounges on a beach chair near the ocean while the mischievous Puck jovially dances onto the stage wearing an Anglers jersey. Cape Cod is to be found everywhere, yet Monomoy has still managed to keep the Shakespearean spirit alive and well in its production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The characters have remained the same: Theseus and Hippolyta still plan on being wed, Helena entreats after the love and affection of the unwilling Demetrius, who instead views the fair Hermia as his darling one - a love interest shared with the doting Lysander, whom Hermia finds dear. The fairy King and Queen, in addition to those that serve them, still wreak havoc on the lives of each other as well as on the unsuspecting humans below, stealing from them their gift of free will and forcing them to see what they would not have otherwise seen. A group of men anticipating their performance before Theseus and his new bride at their wedding run into trouble when their lead is given an animal's head. Confusion and inexplicable events still run rampant, and this story remains as entertaining and riveting as ever - this is without a doubt true.

What changes is the way in which Director Robert Davis approaches this well-known and much performed Shakespearean work; he makes it appealing in a way that audiences are bound to appreciate. Not only does he make it more personable and relatable to a Cape Cod audience, he also makes the tone of the show a bit more embraceable, if that makes sense. When people think of Shakespeare, formality of language, stoic actors portraying tragic and dramatic figures on stage and a rigid format to be followed in terms of acting and presentation are most likely thought of. This production allows a bit more leeway in terms of how all we deem "Shakespearean" is to be upheld, but it also offers little nuances that make this show a bit more fun and enjoyable to watch.

Davis does a wonderful job bringing together khakis with "wherefores" and "whence," but does so in a way that makes the audience really think about how the play benefits from taking place on beautiful Cape Cod - I was thinking of this, at least. I'm trying to find the perfect adjective to describe what Cape Cod does to Shakespearean language and presentation, but what I come up with is that it brings Shakespeare a bit closer to people who are looking for the next island reference they can relate to. Watching anything Shakespeare is admittedly tough for anyone who does not enjoy his works, whether in text or on stage, but adding a bit of Cape Cod flare to it really did this show wonders. I especially enjoyed how funny this show was, and this was not because of any added text and such; it was how the actors approached the existing text and how they reacted to the originally funny story happening before our eyes that gives this show the appeal it has.

Speaking of the actors involved (which is basically this season's entire Monomoy company), there is not much more I can say about them. I have written about each of them for the duration of this summer, and there really isn't anything more I can say except to emphasize their talent and wish them all much success in the future; it is very deserved and foreshadowed by the spectacular performances they collectively gave this summer. As I've been on the Cape as long as they have, I feel as though I've shared the entire journey with them, and I'd really like to say how much I enjoyed coming to see each Monomoy production because of the talent the group finds to bring to its stage. So, cheers to the entire cast for a brilliant job, once again and for the last time this summer.

In closing, Monomoy Theatre's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream is a triumph, and gives a very different face to something we have all become a little too familiar with to give fair chance at change. Although there is only one more performance left, anyone who is in the Chatham area should really attempt to see the group's final production. It really is a good send off to the wonderful summer we've all had here on the Cape.

A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Monomoy Theater, located at 776 Main Street in Chatham, MA, began performances on August 25th and will continue thru August 29th. The final show will be performed at 8:00, and tickets may be purchased either by visiting the box office, by calling (508).945.1589 or by going to http://www.monomoytheatre.org/.

Enjoy the show!

Photo Credit: Dawniella Sinder

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