Review Of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' At High School

From Potomac Schools: Flittering fairies, young lovers, and doltish actors-their stories tied together by the mischief of royal fairies. Edison High School's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream perfectly captured the intricate plot of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays. Written in the late 1500's, it was mostly well received for its absurdity and frivolity, yet also disliked by some for that same reason. Despite the lack of seriousness compared to his other plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream continues to be one of Shakespeare's most performed plays to date.Beginning with the fairies, the story begins with the fairy queen Titania finding a changeling, or a lost child. King Oberon demands that Titania's court hand over the child, but they refuse, leaving Oberon to inflict a spell onto Titania, cursing her to fall in love with the first creature that she sees upon waking up. Puck and Robin, Oberon's assistants, find an acting troupe practicing in the forest, cursing Bottom, one of the actors, with the head of a donkey.

While celebrating their little prank, Puck and Robin encounter Hermia and Lysander, two Romeo-and-Juliet-esque lovers, planning to run to a nearby city to elope. Demetrius, who is in love with Hermia, hears of this plan from Helena, who is infatuated with Demetrius. Puck and Robin pity Helena's unrequited love, so they form a plan to curse Demetrius with the same spell inflicted upon the queen. Their plan is botched, however, when they accidentally curse Lysander instead. They find Demetrius and curse him as well, which makes both men fall in love with Helena. Meanwhile, the queen woke up and found herself face-to-face with the donkey-headed Bottom, who she promptly becomes infatuated with.Despite the troupe's naivet�, the audience laughed along with the rude mechanicals, or actors, as they put on their play-within-a-play production of Metamorphoses. The mechanicals played off of each other's foolishness, each one perfectly embodying the personalities of their respective characters. Flute, played by Mason Clark, portrayed his own character, as well as the role his character played in Metamorphoses, a young lady named Thisbe.

Bringing the doltish actors down to earth was the managerial, yet heartfelt Patti Quince, played by Perry Brown. She encouraged the amateurs throughout the show, giving them not-so-great acting advice and helping them embody their roles as best they could. Helena, played by Angeline Ignacio, showed an excellent understanding of her lines and enunciated spectacularly, something oftentimes difficult in Shakespearean theater. Oberon, played by Nathaniel McCay, portrayed his character very well as both ambitious and heartfelt towards the fairy queen who, played by Sophia Pelakasis, captured the attention of the audience whenever she was onstage, especially through her singing.Costumes were well-made and diverse, with common themes occurring between each group of characters. The fairies especially stood out, adorned with contrasting tutus that matched their colorfully contoured makeup. The props, especially the handmade wings and headpieces worn by the fairies added an extra sense of their role as mystical beings. Each dancing sequence was incredibly well thought-out, with the fluidity of the characters being brought into light. The set crew made excellent use of the full stage, making the set stretch all the way back where Titania slumbered, giving it more dimension.Despite following three different groups of characters, the audience had no problem untangling the intertwining storylines. The characters and the scene around them blended perfectly, making yet another successful Shakespearean production of this enchantingly popular comedy.

Image Courtesy of Potomac HS