Robert Tanitch reviews A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Arts Theatre Upstairs.
Linnie Reedman sets Shakespeare’s comedy in New Orleans in times gone-by and there is nothing wrong with that. The Dream can be set in any place and in any period.
Still, it would be highly unlikely for an upper-crust young lady from aristocratic Athens, Georgia, to be openly in love with a black guy and then not only to marry him but also to have the blessing of a Southern Governor.
Nevertheless, having said that, Jonathan Ajayi’s performance as Lysander is far and away one of the best on this particular midsummer night.
The jazz songs jolly things along; but the play is spoiled by the over-acting and the bad speaking of the verse. Some of the actors really struggle with the Shakespeare.
The Voodoo aspect of the production hasn’t been thought through sufficiently and the actual staging of The Tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe is among the least funny interpretations I have seen.
A definite plus, however, is charismatic Sid Phoenix’s original take on that knavish lad, Puck, who is dressed and made-up to look like a carnival figure in a parade of the dead. He is particularly funny when he finds that the “love-in-idleness” potion isn’t working properly and won’t let him do what he wants it to do with the young lovers.
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