Hubba hubba. No wait, I’m not there yet.
Most of us have read Midsummer Night’s Dream (aka MND to save my poor fingers). It’s a good story, full of comedy and romance; a favorite of many people. Prior to 2008, I’ve seen two different productions of it here at OSF, in fact, each very very good. That said, we haven’t seen anything like this production before.
It’s all about the sex. and passion. and love. and hormones (oh, you cannot forget the hormones.) yum.
We open with the Duke of Athens and his soon-to-be Amazon wife. In silver sharkskin, seated on huge (12 feet at the top) over-stuffed thrones like curvy check marks. His dark glasses shield his eyes from the glitter of the heavy gold chains around his neck. Yes, the Duke is a 50s New Jersey wise guy speaking Elizabethean English spoken in that specific accent. Hippolyta’s response, in an Eartha Kitt-like growl-purr sets the sexual heat thrumming. We’re laughing and turned on — how often does that happen in public?
The young lovers are brimming with adolescent hormones. It’s easy to see how sneaking off to elope in the woods on the night of a full moon is a better idea than marrying the one you don’t love. (Its a great plot device if totally impractical.) If the old lovers (ugh, what a thing to say) are the 50s, then these kids are the 60s. Early 60s. You can almost hear the Beatles and the Birds playing their songs as they dance around in their basic white outfits, the girls in minidresses and the boys in … well . . . collared shirts and slacks.
The play-within-a-play group of fools rolls onstage in . . . a dayglo VW bus, complete with flower power sigils and rocking out to 70s rock-n-roll. (and was that a haze of maryjane smoke?).
But the joy, the thing that makes this play come ALIVE, are the fairies. Because they are fairies — raunchy, sexy, gorgeous young men in tight fishnet shirts, leggings, 4-in high rubbersoled boots and . . . tutus. Moth comes into the dark night and flirts with a spotlight as the music goes 80s and he . . . vogues. All of them come out and play: think chorus line gone 80s. But the scene stealer is John Tufts playing a truly devilish and delightful Puck. Gorgeous!
Mincing and menacing all at once, they steal (most of) the young lover’s clothes and are horrified when Titiana falls in love with . . . an ass! Sulky agreement accompanies their duties to Bottom as he calls for sweet hay and a soft place to nuzzle. Kevin Kennerly’s Oberon is darn good (a little overplayed, but thats in comparison to the excellent actors around him) and Linda Alper’s strident mother act (he’s stealing my B-a-a-a-a-by!) performance is perfect.
We laughed, we danced in our seats, we had a truly magnificent time. This is the best performance of MND I have ever seen, and in the top ten (in 12 years) at OSF.