Review: Crazy For You, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at Trinity Rep

Shakespeare can be a hard sell sometimes. His plays are long, they're frequently hard to understand, and often going to one seems like something you should do, rather than something you want to do. Well, Trinity Rep's production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is the spoonful of sugar that makes the cultural medicine go down. Every detail of the sets and the costumes of this production is so well thought out that they create the perfect mashup of 1980's high school culture, which suits the storyline of the play to a T. After all, so many of Shakespeare's plays are about teenagers in love, why not set them at a prom in the 80's? Similar to Beowulf earlier this season, the cast and crew hold absolutely nothing back and this production is a cascade of color, glitter and Aqua Net with some excellent musical choices that need to be on their own mixtape.

The year is 1986. Lysander and Hermia are in love, but her father doesn't approve of the match and wants her to be with Demetrius instead. Helena is in love with Demetrius, but he's just not that into her, and Hermia's father has given his daughter one day to comport with his wishes. Naturally, as a result of that ultimatum, Hermia and Lysander sneak away with plans to go to his aunt's house where out of the city limits of Athens they can be married. Once they're in the woods en route to Aunt's house, some impish wood fairies lead by Oberon dose Lysander with a love potion that makes him fall in love with the first person he sees, but then the first person he sees is Helena. Oberon's vassel, Puck tries to course correct, but manages to just make the situation much more complicated.

Instead of the traditional role as Athenian citizens, everyone has been recast as high school students and teachers. Hermia and Lysander are "Cutest Couple"; Helena and Demetrius are "Most Likely to Succeed". The actors from the play within a play, usually called the mechanicals are now The Drama Club. Oberon and Titania do double duty as two high school teachers and king and queen of the fairies, and the whole setup works remarkably well.

In order to create the world of 1986, set designer Michael McGarty and costume designer Olivia Gajic must have had a tremendous amount of fun because everything is both whimsical and just spot on for the time period. Rachael Warren as Puck has the most amazing sparkly top, Cyndi Lauper hair and sparkly pink roller skates that she has clearly spent a lot of time practicing with. Mauro Hantman as Oberon gets a sparkly pleather suit reminiscent of Elvis Presley's Vegas days. Phyllis Kay gets a boxy and severe suit in her role as Hippolyta the teacher, and a stunning red feathery gown as Titania. Angela Brazil is unrecognizable with the classic 80s headgear. The students wear a variations on a traditional school uniform, but with subtle tweaks that reflect their personalities. Every single detail has been meticulously crafted right down to the floor which has the grimy cast of a surface that's been trod on and beat up by thousands of students over many, many years.

In addition to the fantastic costumes, nearly everyone is perfectly cast. Gwen Kingston as Helena expertly channels Winona Ryder's character from the movie Heathers, with just a dash of MTV's Daria thrown in. Unlucky in love, she furiously journals her feelings and snaps polaroid photos to blind Hermia when they get into a fight. Rebecca Gibel is perfect as Hermia. She gets to throw in some fantastic bits of physical comedy, and share a heartfelt rendition of Starship's Nothing's Going to Stop us Now with Daniel Duque-Estrada who plays Lysander. Phyllis Kay reminds us once again that she is the master of the withering stare. Jude Sandy has some fantastic moments as he tries to flee from Helena including shrieking "I'll run from you!" as he and Helena tear around the theatre and up into the audience. Rachael Warren is completely in her element as Puck. She has just the right amount of impishness, and the choice to have her on roller skates rather than leaping around is genius.

There are too many wonderful moments to list, and too many delightful surprises that shouldn't be spoiled. Even if this is a play you've seen before, it is brand new in the production, and completely charming.

A Midsummer Night's Dream runs February 9 -March 24, 2017 in the Chace Theater. Tickets are available at www.trinityrep.com, by calling (401) 351-4242 or at the theater's box office at 201 Washington St., Providence.

Additionally, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Project Discovery program, Trinity Rep-the State Theater of Rhode Island-will offer free tickets to A Midsummer Night's Dream to all Rhode Island 11th graders.

Photo: Front center: Rachael Warren as Puck, back center: Teddy Lytle as a fairy. Photo Mark Turek.

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