Review: The Garden Theatre's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Presents Shakespeare with Modern Sass and New Energy

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is arguably the most well-known comedic theatre piece in the world. It is one of Shakespeare's most performed plays, and many high school students are assigned to read this play as an introduction to Shakespearian farce. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was even the first Shakespearian show that I ever saw at the age of 10 years old. I saw it on the outdoor stage at American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Watching this play in the outdoors surrounded by forest was magical. I truly was entranced by the beautiful costumes and magical technical spectacles, and I felt completely immersed into the world of the play, even though a lot of the plot flew over my head as a young girl. I still proudly own the fairy ornament that I bought as a souvenir that night.

Since my first viewing of the play, I have seen "A Midsummer Night's Dream" a couple of times. Each production had its own charm, but they all followed the story traditionally, making the same jokes and all trying to reach mimesis with their costumes, set, and props. Going to The Garden Theatre's production at Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston (MATCH), I expected no different.

However, I was pleasantly surprised.

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The Garden Theatre's performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was a breath of fresh air. The players brought new life to the play and added modern twists. Firstly, the play space was smaller, making the play more intimate and allowing the actors to break the fourth wall many times. At multiple points during the performance, characters personally interacted with the audience, usually indirectly asking for their opinions of the actions at hand. These friendly exchanges always lead to giggles and applause.

Even with the traditional prose, the constant physicality of the characters paired with their strong performances of the text made the events of the play very clear to follow. Additionally, sexual jokes were cleverly made- as in many Shakespearian shows- but feminist views were infused into this show's direction. For example, at one point, when Demetrius tries to set up a sexual quid pro quo with Hermia, Hermia responds with a knee in the balls! The audience hooped and hollered at this moment.

Furthermore, the character of Puck (Anthony Quinn Berry) doubled as Philostrate, the actor of Theseus (Mark Mendelsohn) also portrayed Oberon, the actress Dinah Ndu presented the characters Hippolyta and Titania, and the acting troop also served as fairy servants to the fairy queen. I have never gone to a production that does this so intentionally, making the parallels between the human world and the fairy world very obvious and also showcasing the versatility of the actors. Vance Johnson, the director of this production, has done wonderful work, and every actor was strong in their performance, sharing the depth of talent in this production.

Some of the actors really caught my eye with their dynamic performances. Anthony Quinn Berry creates such a funny Philostrate, the king's assistant, by making the character a feisty know-it-all, a take I have not seen before. Anthony Quinn Berry is also the most athletic Puck I have seen, and I could not help but keep my eyes on him whenever he entered the stage area. He twisted and turned with ease and fluidity, and he danced with contemporary flair. His confidence and sass made me laugh out loud and clap in support many times throughout his scenes.

I also have to give a shout-out to my favorite performance of the production: Cortney Hafner as Bottom. Firstly, I have never seen a gender-bent performance of Bottom, and it was amazing to see the challenging of the traditional casting of this character. I quickly realized, despite my original notions of the character, that the gender of Bottom does not really matter at all in the plot of the play. Moreover, Cortney Hafner was the most engaging Bottom I have ever seen. She filled up the space with her sound and physicality, and she was never afraid to break the fourth wall or hold a moment. She led the vigor of the performance whenever she was onstage, and I have never laughed so hard at a performance of Bottom before. It is not one to miss!

In addition to the actor performances, I appreciated the fairly minimalistic set and the simple yet beautiful costumes (designed by Julianne McBride). The set only consisted of one high platform with two staircases on the sides, and it was decorated with greenery and one curtain hanging underneath it. This one set piece gave so many opportunities for the characters to explore their power and hierarchy in the space, and it allowed the actors to travel interestingly through the theatrical area. The costumes added to the storytelling by exploring color and pattern themes: the Athenian men wore varying vests; the Athenian women wore shawls, dresses, and belts of different tones; the acting troop wore overalls; the king and queen of the human world wore lavish red outfits with stunning jewelry while the king and queen of the fairy world wore similar outfits in green; and Puck wore a green vest, a headband of sunflowers, and tan harem pants that gave him the flexibility to complete all of the acrobatics that he did throughout the show. The costumes symbolically informed us of the character's relationships and made the plot very clear even when the actors switched roles throughout the performance. I especially enjoyed the friendship anklets that Hermia and Helena had, which helped represent when their relationship was strained and when Puck helped mend their conflict.

After watching this production, all I have to say is that The Garden Theatre is a new, up-and-coming theatre company that I am going to keep my eyes on. I would like to thank Logan Vaden, the founding artistic director The Garden Theatre, for bringing his work to Houston!

Be sure to watch this hilarious show, only running through this weekend! Shows are on Thursday (at 7:30 pm), Friday (at 8:00 pm), Saturday (at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm), and Sunday (at 2:00 pm). The production is set at MATCH, which you can find at 3400 Main Street. General admission is only $25, and the Student/Senior price is $20. You can buy tickets here.

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