Hedgerow Theatre Company presents 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

His pattern not only doubles the four young lovers with the "Rude Mechanicals," the locals putting on a play for Duke Theseus's wedding day (as Matt Pfeiffer's Arden Theatre Company production did earlier this season), but also splits the role of mischievous fairy Puck among five actors, each of whom dons a red hat to help make this clear.

Nonstop flow

Cromie's scheme allows the play to flow without pause. Even when actors dash up and down the house stairs, they soon pop up elsewhere in other roles. Susan Wefel's wide-eyed Bottom becomes central, in part because her only other role is small. Other actors switch between parts of equal size and importance: Allison Bloechl plays Hippolyta, Theseus's Amazon bride, as well as fairy queen Titania, young lover Helena, and Mechanical Starveling, here portrayed as a delightfully spacey feminist. Zoran Kovcic pairs with her as Theseus and fairy king Oberon, plus Peter Quince, the Mechanicals' leader. Josh Portera is Lysander and Snug, Mark Swift plays Demetrius and Francis Flute, and Madalyn St. John is Hermia, Snout, and the fairy Cobweb.

They dash all over the largely bare theater together. Hedgerow's stage has been removed, leaving the gravel-covered theater floor and a central platform of mats, which are great for flopping, rolling, crawling, and other pratfalls. Lighting designer Jared Reed bathes the theater's rough stone back wall in colors, making this unusual aspect a visual advantage. A few bare trees complete the idea.

Less helpful are Elizabeth Hanson's costumes: everyday clothing with added pieces to distinguish characters, often over dull black bases. For example, Hippolyta gets defined by a tiara and an old housecoat — quite a downfall for a warrior queen.

Less is more?

One could wish for more vocal variety among characters, fewer ad-libbed lines, and greater acrobatics for those mats, but this Midsummer successfully makes the story clear and fun. The doubling works well, aided by some delicate trimming but also through reinterpreting lines. The lovers' catty comments about the Mechanicals' play Pyramus and Thisbe, for example, are given to the Mechanicals themselves, becoming self-deprecating remarks instead of insults.

It's fair to wonder, though, why do this at all? There are plenty of actors in the world, though not enough money to pay them fairly. Is it done for the artistic challenge of making a play work with as few actors as possible? I saw New York City's Bedlam in residence at McCarter Theatre, performing their four-person Hamlet and Saint Joan with mixed results; they later premiered a well-received three-actor Merry Wives of Windsor. Locally, the Mechanical Theater Company produced a fun three-actor Romeo and Juliet last June. Hedgerow's last mainstage production, The Prisoner of Zenda, used five actors to tell that big story, as does their next, a popular adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days.

The sheer cleverness and virtuosity impress audiences more than any money saved. It's great fun — and great theater — to see actors jump adroitly from one role to another. Would audiences new to Shakespeare find this six-person Midsummer easier to follow than one with a cast of 20? A plethora of small characters can certainly be difficult to follow. The doubling also increases comic opportunities, as Hedgerow's production demonstrates. I'm not willing to cry "Enough!" yet, especially when such adaptations are as entertaining as Hedgerow's A Midsummer Night's Dream.