Theatermania Midsummer Review

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Oberon: Michael Davis, Puck: Nitya Vidyasagar)

Both immediately accessible and thematically adventurous, The Flux Theatre Ensemble’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, at the West End Theater, rewards audiences of all degrees of familiarity with the play.

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Moth: Michael Swartz, Cobweb: Hannah Rose Peck, Wisp: Charlotte Graham, Bottom: Christina Shipp, Titania: Kira Blaskovich, Peaseblossom: Tiffany Clementi, Mustardseed: Caitlin Kinsella)

Guided by August Schulenburg’s supremely intelligent direction, the entertaining production is clear and easy to comprehend even for the uninitiated…

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Hermia: Amy Fitts, Helena: Candice Holdorf)

…but it’s also driven by fresh insights that will captivate those who are well-acquainted with Shakespeare’s oft-performed comedy.

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Hermia: Amy Fitts, Lysander: Jake Alexander, Helena: Candice Holdorf, Demetrius: Brian Pracht)

The “foolish mortals” at the center of the story — Hermia and Lysander (Amy Fitts and Jake Alexander), who are reciprocally in love with each other when the play begins, and Demetrius and Helena (Brian Pracht and Candice Holdorf), who are not — are depicted here as identifiably down-to-earth contemporary characters.

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Helena: Candice Holdorf, Hermia: Amy Fitts)

The engaging and capable actors have been directed to deliver their lines conversationally, which results in more natural performances than are often seen in productions of this play…

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Lysander: Jake Alexander, Hermia: Amy Fitts)

…and which gives the foursome’s interactions an immediacy that maximizes our identification with them and with their confusions about love and desire.

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Moth: Michael Swartz, Cobweb: Hannah Rose Peck, Wisp: Charlotte Graham, Peaseblossom: Tiffany Clementi, Mustardseed: Caitlin Kinsella)

In sharp dramatic contrast to the four lovers, the supernatural characters in the woods are rendered with more heightened, stylized performances, and the production effectively evokes their magical environment with simple but sensationally effective bits of theatrical business.

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Oberon: Michael Davis)

For example, Oberon (Michael Davis) is at one point lit so that his shadow appears to grow and dominate the stage; while the long train of Titania’s (Kira Blaskovich) gown spills across the stage floor to signify water.

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Titania: Kira Blaskovich)

The production may be limited by the usual budgetary constraints of off-off Broadway, but it’s certainly not limited by a deficit of creativity or imagination.

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Bottom: Christina Shipp, Titania: Kira Blaskovich, Pease Blossom: Tiffany Clementi, Wisp: Charlotte Graham)

The ensemble’s spirit of thoughtful exploration can be keenly felt throughout the show. Indeed, while some of the production’s more curious choices don’t work, others turn out to be wonderful,

most notably the casting of actresses in the traditionally male roles of Puck (Nitya Vidyasagar), the mischievous fairy,

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Cobweb: Hannah Rose Peck, Mustardseed: Cailtin Kinsella, Moth: Michael Swartz, Bottom: Christina Shipp)

and Bottom (Christina Shipp), the braggart actor who is transformed into a donkey. (In the latter instance, we’re not watching a female play a male character. The production has re-imagined the character’s gender.)

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Snug: David Douglas Smith, Snout: Nick Monroy, Flute: Isaiah Tanenbaum, Bottom: Christina Shipp)

Finally, the production gives fresh thematic emphasis to the play-within-the-play that comprises most of the final act.

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Bottom: Christina Shipp, Quince: Maggie Hamilton)

Even though we may already know that theater brings a transforming magic to our mortal world,

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Bottom: Christina Shipp, Flute: Isaiah Tanenbaum)

it’s a pleasure to have a production as delightful as this one to remind us.

(Photo: Shalin Scupham, Oberon: Michael Davis, Titania: Kira Blaskovich)