Last Thursday night, I had the privilege to see a production of the classic A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Syracuse Stage. Although I went primarily to complete a review assignment for my Interpretation of Drama class, I was stunned by this performance. This post isn't my official review, rather these are the details I have noticed and want to write down so that I remember all these bits when I write my review... field notes per say.The overload of the sensory aspects of the play from aesthetic uses of color and lighting and the incorporation of tone and sounds really made this play interesting to experience.
I was very glad to have the opportunity to watch a play in production rather than simply reading the script. Unlike more recent playwrights like Tennessee Williams, older plays typically don't have much stage direction and description within the script to visualize a play. This made reading A Midsummer Night's Dream much different from seeing it. When the script is dialogue on paper, it is more difficult to grasp the emotion and humor of a script.
This particular production seemed, as put in Jillian's words, "like Candyland had an orgy." The production almost seemed surreal with its lack of a particular time period for this rendition (after all, this play is timeless). The dress and setting with the four lovers reminded me much of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland with the 1800's style. Yet the players wore overalls and carried a boombox playing rock and roll music! Not to mention the fairy "woodland" scenes that reminded me of a 1980's disco with giant pom poms made of tutu material. What added to the surreal effect included the use of lighting (spotlights, dimmed lights, patterned effects during intense scenes) and the mirror background that seemed to complete the environment.
The acting was spectacular, although a bit melodramatic---after all, this kind of play was meant to be overacted. I particularly noticed the performances by the actors who played Puck and Lysander. They were absolutely hilarious and entertained the audience throughout the entire production. Something that I noticed was the background sound effects made by the actors during the production. The small sounds-- the hissing and the whimpers and the whispers-- added an extra dynamic to the senses. The play was almost turned into a musical with several musical numbers filled with song and dance. The actress who played Titania in particular sang and danced with such a sultry grace which was beautiful. The actors were limitless; many entered the scene from among the audience, running down the aisles to make their way onto the stage.
Anyways, kudos to the producer and art director of this play to conceptualize how this particular rendition of A Midsummer Night's Dream, a play redone countless times, can be a playground for creativity and innovation that sticks to the audience more than any other movie or adaptation could possibly provide.
