“The lunatic, the lover and the poet are of imagination all compact,” says Duke
Theseus in his famous Act V speech in William Shakespeare’s comedy of fairy mischief and romantic confusion, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“The lunatic, the lover and the poet are of imagination all compact,” says Duke
Theseus in his famous Act V speech in William Shakespeare’s comedy of fairy mischief and romantic confusion, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Courtesy of Portland Center Stage
Dream A little Dream: Portland Center Stage brings director Penny Metropulos’ vision to life this week with its rendition of Shakespeare’s classic farce A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
His point encapsulates one theme of the play: Love makes you crazy. The world where Titania, queen of the fairies, falls in love with a man who has a donkey’s head, and where Demetrius and Lysander, rivals for Hermia’s affections, find themselves fighting over the scorned Helena instead, could very well be nothing but a dream.
But Shakespeare’s tale endures as one of his most magical, sexy and hilarious works, and this month, Portland Center Stage is hoping to bring the show to a new generation of audiences.
The events of A Midsummer Night’s Dream center around the wedding of Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, the Amazon Queen. The action is divided into three separate stories, which collide and overlap in the most comic of ways.
The first story is that of four young Athenians who are celebrating the wedding. Hermia defies her father’s orders to marry Demetrius and runs away to the forest with her true love, Lysander.
Demetrius pursues her, and he is pursued in turn by Helena, the sad but lovable girl who is in love with him: “Demetrius, I am your dog, and the more you beat me, the more I shall fawn on you.” That should give you an idea of Helena’s character.
The second story takes place in the woods and the fairy realm, and involves Oberon, the king of the fairies, who is trying to claim an Indian changeling baby from his wife, Queen Titania.
Oberon sends his servant, Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, to spread a love
potion over Titania’s eyes while she is sleeping so she’ll fall in love with a deer or a rabbit or something, which is supposed to make her more likely to give up the baby. Oberon’s a little twisted, right?
But the worlds of the fairies and the mortals cross when Oberon decides he wants to make Demetrius realize his love for Helena, so he sends Puck to use the love potion on them, too. Of course, this all goes very badly.
The third story—the biggest source of broad comedy in A Midsummer Night’s Dream—has to do with Titania and her encounter with a band of six Athenian workers who are in the forest rehearsing a play to perform for the wedding.
One of them, Bottom, gets his head changed to a donkey’s head by Puck, and becomes the recipient of Titania’s enchanted love. The forest becomes a haven for all sorts of crazy romance. How will Oberon and Puck put everything right again?
PCS’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is directed by Penny Metropulos, who served as associate artistic director for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for 12 years and has directed for both the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and California Shakespeare.
The cast includes Oregon Shakespeare Festival company members such as Daisuke Tsuji, who takes on the iconic role of the mischievous Puck. Richard Baird and Dana Green play both Theseus and Hippolyta and Oberon and Titania, respectively, giving the show even more of a dreamlike quality.
The play is presented as the centerpiece of PCS’s 25th anniversary season and will run till Dec. 23 so that audiences have a chance to make it part of the holiday season.
“What excites me about this play is the pure joyful comedy of it,” said Natalie Genter-Gilmore, public relations manager for PCS, in an email. “It just doesn’t get any funnier than watching Titania speak those beautiful lines of verse to Bottom while he has the head of an ass. It combines the sparkling language of Shakespeare with side-splitting physical comedy.”
One of the most exciting elements of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is that the National Endowment of the Arts made it possible through their Shakespeare for a New Generation program, which awards grants to help bring live theater into the lives of young people.
If you’re a fan of the Bard, like I am, getting audiences to see colorful, creative
performances of works that many people don’t take the time to appreciate or understand is nothing less than a great cause.
Even if you’re not a Shakespeare buff, the incredible imagery, comedic wit and unique magic of the play can draw you in. It all adds up to a dream worth having.
