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If it's spring, thus must be Midsummer
Lantern Theater's "Midsummer Night's Dream' (2nd review)
Alaina Johns
Some people await spring because they can't wait to break out the flip-flops. Others long for a hot, sandy day at the shore, greasy with coconut-smelling sun block, or a dip in the pool with a Corona nestling in the inflatable raft's cup-holder. I look forward to all of these things too, but putting my coat back in the closet means more than swimsuit season. It means that A Midsummer Night's Dream is about to open somewhere within a half-hour's ride of my apartment.
Each year I wonder why I look forward to seeing this bit of Shakespeare so much. Paging through my old Complete Works, Midsummer hardly amounts to a millimeter of pages.
Maybe it's because I appreciate a play about lovers who have some history, instead of Cupid's more instantaneous victims, like Orlando and Rosalind or Claudio and Hero. Upon learning, as a teenager, that my name is a variant of "Helen," my heart swelled with sympathy for Helena's lament: "No, no, I am as ugly as a bear; For beasts that meet me run away for fear."
Zinman's complaint
As I sat down to the opening scene of the Lantern's new Midsummer, directed by Charles McMahon, the same old contentment slipped over me at the first few lines from Theseus and Hippolyta (Joanna Liao and Charlie DelMarcelle). As they danced fight director J. Alex Cordaro's sharp and sensual pre-nuptial duel, I tried to pinpoint the reason for my familiar pleasure. I realized that the satisfaction of my spring dose of Midsummer is almost the same as the enjoyment of listening to my favorite music. If I could buy scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream like songs for my iPod, I probably would.
In her Inquirer review, Toby Zinman complains that the Lantern's production lacks "theatrical magic," with "uniformly ugly" costumes and a drab set: "A Midsummer Night's Dream is usually a designer's heaven, offering so many possibilities for so many gorgeous effects."
True, the Lantern seems to have swaddled these men of Athens in old blankets; and despite some leathery, feathery detailing on the fairies, there's nothing especially unique about them here. Meghan Jones's set is uninspired, and I felt I could have been looking at any of a number of former Lantern productions. Daniel Perelstein's music is an unusually ominous stirring of strings. But when designers and choreographers pull out all the stops to pay homage to Midsummer's magical elements, by the last act I'm more than ready for "Robin shall restore amends."
Excess of magic
In the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's well-lauded 2009 Midsummer, Puck was an ingeniously costumed furry faun with elaborate acrobatics built into every scene, and he closed the play in a shower of glitter. Exotic music and dance prevailed throughout and magical moments were audibly signified with a tinkling chime— much more than I needed.
The Lantern's new production is simpler and neatly streamlined at its e
Each year I wonder why I look forward to seeing this bit of Shakespeare so much. Paging through my old Complete Works, Midsummer hardly amounts to a millimeter of pages.
Maybe it's because I appreciate a play about lovers who have some history, instead of Cupid's more instantaneous victims, like Orlando and Rosalind or Claudio and Hero. Upon learning, as a teenager, that my name is a variant of "Helen," my heart swelled with sympathy for Helena's lament: "No, no, I am as ugly as a bear; For beasts that meet me run away for fear."
Zinman's complaint
As I sat down to the opening scene of the Lantern's new Midsummer, directed by Charles McMahon, the same old contentment slipped over me at the first few lines from Theseus and Hippolyta (Joanna Liao and Charlie DelMarcelle). As they danced fight director J. Alex Cordaro's sharp and sensual pre-nuptial duel, I tried to pinpoint the reason for my familiar pleasure. I realized that the satisfaction of my spring dose of Midsummer is almost the same as the enjoyment of listening to my favorite music. If I could buy scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream like songs for my iPod, I probably would.
In her Inquirer review, Toby Zinman complains that the Lantern's production lacks "theatrical magic," with "uniformly ugly" costumes and a drab set: "A Midsummer Night's Dream is usually a designer's heaven, offering so many possibilities for so many gorgeous effects."
True, the Lantern seems to have swaddled these men of Athens in old blankets; and despite some leathery, feathery detailing on the fairies, there's nothing especially unique about them here. Meghan Jones's set is uninspired, and I felt I could have been looking at any of a number of former Lantern productions. Daniel Perelstein's music is an unusually ominous stirring of strings. But when designers and choreographers pull out all the stops to pay homage to Midsummer's magical elements, by the last act I'm more than ready for "Robin shall restore amends."
Excess of magic
In the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's well-lauded 2009 Midsummer, Puck was an ingeniously costumed furry faun with elaborate acrobatics built into every scene, and he closed the play in a shower of glitter. Exotic music and dance prevailed throughout and magical moments were audibly signified with a tinkling chime— much more than I needed.
The Lantern's new production is simpler and neatly streamlined at its e
What, When, Where
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. By William Shakespeare; Charles McMahon directed. Lantern Theater production through April 17, 2011 at St. Stephen’s Theater, 923 Ludlow St. (215) 829.0395 or www.lanterntheater.org.
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