{"id":351939,"date":"2024-03-21T17:25:28","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T21:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=351939"},"modified":"2024-03-21T17:25:28","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T21:25:28","slug":"a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/","title":{"rendered":"A zany good ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at American Shakespeare Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re looking for an uproarious good time, there\u2019s no other place on the planet where you can wear yourself out with belly laughs, even at the oldest and cheapest gags, than the American Shakespeare Center\u2019s current production of A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em>. It\u2019s always a pleasure to see the company at its comedic best, and this production is no exception; their creativity and devil-may-care attitude are on full display here, and in the intimate confines of the Blackfriars Playhouse, there\u2019s hardly a seat where you don\u2019t find yourself immersed in the mayhem.<\/p>\n

For the uninitiated, Midsummer<\/em> is a classic romantic comedy that is purported to have a plot \u2014 something to do with weddings, mismatched young lovers, mischievous sprites, not to mention a gang of working stiffs who, without a thimble-full of talent between them, still insist on putting on a show.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Nicolas Eric Sanchez, Natasia Lucia Reinhardt, and Kenn Hopkins Jr. as Musicians and Annabelle Rollison as Bottom in \u2018A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream.\u2019 Photo by October Grace Media.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The action begins with the upcoming marriage between King Theseus of Athens and his war booty bride, and real<\/em> Amazon, Hippolyta (Summer England, decked here in an appropriately badass \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d\u2013style white wig). This is clearly not a marriage made in heaven. To complicate things further there are star-crossed lovers, a young woman who loves one Athenian but who is set to marry another (dad\u2019s rules, natch). A plot is hatched to help the true-love couple elope to the woods outside of town.<\/p>\n

And it is in said woods, of course, that all hell breaks loose, with the aid of the fairies. A tiff between the Fairy King Oberon and his Queen Titania, like our other royals clearly not the best match, leads to a sequence of spells being cast and miscast, with hilarious results.<\/p>\n

Among the fairies\u2019 many victims is an especially thick-headed laborer, Bottom the Weaver, who thinks he\u2019s the next Brad Pitt; his fate must be seen to be believed \u2014 and believe it you will. Bottom\u2019s rehearsal schedule gets seriously disrupted by his transformation into a donkey, thanks to the efforts of a certain trouble-making sprite, Puck. And, once donkey-fied, he finds that Titania is really, really hot for him. Happens every day, right?<\/p>\n

As Bottom, Annabelle Rollison gives us a masterclass in comic delivery, with hardly a single line left untouched. Her gift for physical comedy matches her vocal chops too; at the play\u2019s climax, when Bottom stars in the ill-begotten show \u201cPyramus and Thisbe,\u201d Rollison also gives us some truly risqu\u00e9 slapstick that puts the Rude back in Rude Mechanical \u2014 definitely in the spirit of the original.<\/p>\n

As Oberon\u2019s aide and trickster-in-chief, Puck, Joe Mucciolo gives us a slacker fairy who is frankly a bit sloppy when it comes to following instructions. His star turn as Puck is made even more hilarious when he transforms himself into Philostrate, the crotchety old servant to King Theseus.<\/p>\n

\"\"
TOP: Joe Mucciolo as Puck and Aidan O’Reilly as Oberon; ABOVE: Kenn Hopkins Jr. as Peaseblossom, Nicolas Eric Sanchez as Mote, and Philip Orazio as Mustardseed, in \u2018A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream.\u2019 Photos by October Grace Media.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The royal couples are delightfully double-cast here; as Theseus\/Oberon, Aidan O\u2019Reilly truly relishes the power, both military and magical, that he has over his opposite, here played by Summer England, whose initial iciness (as Hippolyta) is offset by her comic turn as Titania, and her strange fixation with that walking, talking donkey.<\/p>\n

As always, the cast regales us with pop numbers apropos<\/em> the action \u2014 the Stephen Stills\u2013cum\u2013Isley Brothers classic \u201cLove the One You\u2019re With\u201d gets a good workout here, as does Screamin\u2019 Jay Hawkins\u2019 \u201cI Put a Spell On You\u201d (I mean, really, you\u2019re going to do Midsummer<\/em> without that one?). Meanwhile, Aidan O\u2019Reilly turns in his own original, bluesy \u201cBright Leaves on the Ground,\u201d while Annabelle Rollison comes up with a hilarious rewrite of Trey Z\u2019s \u201cBottoms Up.\u201d Older folks (myself included, ahem) can go online and learn a thing or two about what people are listening to these days, which is a lot of fun in itself.<\/p>\n

The cast, having already established their chops with the other two shows in this spring\u2019s repertory \u2014 Julius Caesar<\/em><\/a> and Pride and Prejudice<\/em><\/a> \u2014 is now in full control of the material, the stage, and the Blackfriars Playhouse space. Their impeccable sense of comic timing here guarantees that even when some of the speeches go on a bit long, the tempo of the action hardly slackens.<\/p>\n

The word \u201czany\u201d was meant for these masters of comedy, who mine Shakespeare\u2019s language for every double-entendre, every absurd rhyme, and every ridiculously hard consonant. It\u2019s one thing to say that Shakespeare was a great writer; I mean, yeah, we all know that. It\u2019s another thing to treat him like he is a pathetic hack who can\u2019t write his way out of a wet paper bag, and have you laugh at the Bard\u2019s ridiculous language. This cannot be missed!<\/p>\n

The ASC\u2019s repertory is now in full bloom, like our cherry blossoms and magnolias; it only needs you to make the joy and the mirth complete.<\/p>\n

Running Time: Two and a half hours, including one intermission.<\/p>\n

A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em><\/strong><\/a> plays through June 9, 2024,\u00a0in repertory with Pride and Prejudice <\/a><\/em><\/strong>(through June 8) and Julius Caesar<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (through June 8) presented by American Shakespeare Center<\/a> at the Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 South Market Street, Staunton, VA. For tickets ($34\u2013$73), call the box office at (540) 851-3400, or purchase them online.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Cast and artistic team credits for A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em>\u00a0are online here<\/a> (scroll down).<\/p>\n

COVID Safety:<\/strong>\u00a0American Shakespeare Center strongly encourages patrons to mask when possible. ASC\u2019s complete COVID-19 Safety Visitor\u2019s Guide is\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a pleasure to see the company at its comedic best; their creativity and devil-may-care attitude are on full display. By ANDREW WALKER WHITE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":351980,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-351939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reviews"},"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nA zany good 'Midsummer Night's Dream' at American Shakespeare Center - DC Theater Arts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s a pleasure to see the company at its comedic best; their creativity and devil-may-care attitude are on full display.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A zany good 'Midsummer Night's Dream' at American Shakespeare Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s a pleasure to see the company at its comedic best; their creativity and devil-may-care attitude are on full display.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DC Theater Arts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-21T21:25:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/DSC00857.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Walker White\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Walker White\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/\",\"name\":\"A zany good 'Midsummer Night's Dream' at American Shakespeare Center - DC Theater Arts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/DSC00857.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-21T21:25:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/932b454506f2178a75b96b49b6ae20cf\"},\"description\":\"It\u2019s a pleasure to see the company at its comedic best; their creativity and devil-may-care attitude are on full display.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/DSC00857.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/DSC00857.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Nicolas Eric Sanchez, Natasia Lucia Reinhardt, and Kenn Hopkins Jr. as Musicians and Annabelle Rollison as Bottom in \u2018A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream.\u2019 Photo by October Grace Media.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A zany good ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at American Shakespeare Center\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/\",\"name\":\"DC Theater Arts\",\"description\":\"Washington, DC's most comprehensive source of performing arts coverage.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/932b454506f2178a75b96b49b6ae20cf\",\"name\":\"Andrew Walker White\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9202bd5ac9d4cb4aafc44e7c8ddc8c27d59e63e48b9f93ae2ead141721f2a161?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9202bd5ac9d4cb4aafc44e7c8ddc8c27d59e63e48b9f93ae2ead141721f2a161?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andrew Walker White\"},\"description\":\"Andrew Walker White (seen here taking tea at the walls of Troy) is a longtime Washington area theatre artist, whose career began with gigs at the Source Theatre (company member under Bart Whiteman) and included shows with Theatre Le Neon (company member, under Didier Rousselet) and the Capital Fringe Festival. He received his Ph.D. in Theatre History and Performance Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park with a specialty in post-classical Greek theatre and ritual. His book, \\\"Performing Orthodox Ritual in Byzantium\\\" marks the first of a series with Cambridge University Press, on the strange history of the Greek performing arts between Antiquity and the Renaissance.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/author\/andrew-walker-white\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A zany good 'Midsummer Night's Dream' at American Shakespeare Center - DC Theater Arts","description":"It\u2019s a pleasure to see the company at its comedic best; their creativity and devil-may-care attitude are on full display.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A zany good 'Midsummer Night's Dream' at American Shakespeare Center","og_description":"It\u2019s a pleasure to see the company at its comedic best; their creativity and devil-may-care attitude are on full display.","og_url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/","og_site_name":"DC Theater Arts","article_published_time":"2024-03-21T21:25:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/DSC00857.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andrew Walker White","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andrew Walker White","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/","name":"A zany good 'Midsummer Night's Dream' at American Shakespeare Center - DC Theater Arts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/DSC00857.jpg","datePublished":"2024-03-21T21:25:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/932b454506f2178a75b96b49b6ae20cf"},"description":"It\u2019s a pleasure to see the company at its comedic best; their creativity and devil-may-care attitude are on full display.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/DSC00857.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/DSC00857.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"caption":"Nicolas Eric Sanchez, Natasia Lucia Reinhardt, and Kenn Hopkins Jr. as Musicians and Annabelle Rollison as Bottom in \u2018A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream.\u2019 Photo by October Grace Media."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/03\/21\/a-zany-good-midsummer-nights-dream-at-american-shakespeare-center\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A zany good ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at American Shakespeare Center"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/","name":"DC Theater Arts","description":"Washington, DC's most comprehensive source of performing arts coverage.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/932b454506f2178a75b96b49b6ae20cf","name":"Andrew Walker White","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9202bd5ac9d4cb4aafc44e7c8ddc8c27d59e63e48b9f93ae2ead141721f2a161?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9202bd5ac9d4cb4aafc44e7c8ddc8c27d59e63e48b9f93ae2ead141721f2a161?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Andrew Walker White"},"description":"Andrew Walker White (seen here taking tea at the walls of Troy) is a longtime Washington area theatre artist, whose career began with gigs at the Source Theatre (company member under Bart Whiteman) and included shows with Theatre Le Neon (company member, under Didier Rousselet) and the Capital Fringe Festival. He received his Ph.D. in Theatre History and Performance Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park with a specialty in post-classical Greek theatre and ritual. His book, \"Performing Orthodox Ritual in Byzantium\" marks the first of a series with Cambridge University Press, on the strange history of the Greek performing arts between Antiquity and the Renaissance.","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/author\/andrew-walker-white\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}