By Sandi Masori
CORONADO, California — Walking into the Coronado Playhouse for their current production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, you’re transported into a different world. The set designed by Lu Garcia is beautiful, woodsy and efficient.
When seeing Shakespeare it’s always a bit of a coin toss as to how the show will be. Will they get lost in the intricacies of Ye Olde English and lose the emotion and meaning, or will they convey the spirit of the show with modernized dialogue? Or will they manage to pull it all together? The Coronado troupe, I’m happy to say, pulls it all together. Actually it was one of the best shows I’ve seen at the playhouse.
For those who don’t remember the play from their high school English class, it’s a romantic comedy and farce. Set in Athens, Lysander (Freddy Gomez Cruz)) and Hermia (Natasha Gomez) want to get married, but Hermia’s mother (Kara Tuckfield), wants Hermia to marry Demetrius (Ruth Russel) who loves Hermia too. Hermia’s best friend Helena (Andalyn Honselaar) loves Demetrius, but he won’t even look at her. Enter the king of the fairies, Oberon (Michael Rodriguez), who is fighting with his wife. He instructs one of his fairies, Puck (Hunter M. Brown) to put a spell on “the Athenian,” meaning Demetrius, so that he will fall in love with Helena. But a case of mistaken identity sees both Lysander and Demetrius spelled to fall in love with Helena. He also makes a donkey out of Nick Bottom (Jon Alexander Hewitt) who is an actor in the area to do a play for the royals, and makes Oberon’s wife Titania (Alyssa Anne Austin) fall in love with him. Much chaos and hilarity ensues.
A few things were different about this production, first the non-fairy actors wore modern dress, the part of Hermia’s father was turned into that of her mother, and the show we saw had swing actor Ruth Russel filling in for the role of Demitrius. I always admire the swing actors who have to learn multiple roles and be ready to jump in at any time and make it feel as though the role were written for them. Russel admirably rises to the challenge. Since the understudies weren’t announced in the beginning of the show though, it was a little confusing in the beginning to understand why the characters were referring to a male Demitrius, when the actor herself was clearly presenting female. They didn’t really try to make her look more masculine, other than putting her in the same costume that the primary actor wears, and it didn’t seem as though it were a gender bending role or a trans actor. They also didn’t change her gender, as they did for Hermia’s “mother.”
Once you get past that momentary distraction, she really shines in the role and owns it. In fact, until I consulted the program, I did not realize that she usually plays a different role (one of the fairies), but once I realized that, the mystery of her character made a lot more sense.
I also want to commend Kara Tuckfield, though her role is small, her presence is felt every time she walks out on the stage. She is one of those actors who is noticeable even in her stillness, the mark of a true artist.
Another actor who has a small role but is worth commending is Vincent Richmond, who plays Peter Quince, the director of the play within the play. He too has only a few lines, but those lines are delivered with emotion and conviction, so that you don’t even realize it’s Shakespeare.
Hunter M Brown is phenomenal as Puck. His boyish energy and comedic timing is perfect for the role. For the most part, his lines too don’t feel like “Shakespeare,” but rather something more modern and spontaneous. He lights up the stage every time he comes back on, and upon his stage exit I found myself looking forward to his next entrance.
Kudos also need to be given to Honselaar who steals every scene she’s in.
Directors Lu Garcia and Erin Petersen really turn up the physical comedy to great effect. They also included some anachronistic elements like using a cell phone for a prop and an acapella performance of A-ha’s Take On Me. You knew who the gen X-ers in the audience were by who started giggling or singing along to the song.
The show is well done. There are a couple of things that could make it better though. The transitions between scenes can be quicker as they last a bit too long and make you wonder whether it’s a break or a scene transition. Also, letting the audience know about casting changes can help keep the audience from being distracted by what may seem like an unexpected actor being in the part.
For those afraid of Shakespeare, or not well acquainted with his works, this is a great play to start with. The show runs through March 30.
*
Sandi Masori is a theater and restaurant reviewer for San Diego Jewish World.
Thanks for the thorough and exciting review!