Fascinating, musical & magical production is full of wondrous tricks

By Charlene Baldridge | SDUN Theater Critic

This summer the eucalyptus grove behind the Old Globe’s outdoor stage is filled with fairies: at least 12 of them.

That is, unless one also counts Titania the fairy queen, her vengeful consort Oberon, and Oberon’s quicksilver factotum named Puck, who all seem to straddle two worlds – human and fairy – in guest director Ian Talbot’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare.

In fact, the production seems to indicate that Puck could be the unseen Changeling Boy about whom Oberon and Titania are at loggerheads; and furthermore, that Oberon’s herbal magic, which causes Titania to love an ass, may have taken place eons ago and has been repeating over the course of millennia.

Just as Puck (played by Lucas Hall) declares, “What fools these mortals be,” one realizes the mortals are indeed foolish. Their enchantment – or intoxication, as provided by a purple flower – causes the comedy. They are the adorable Hermia (Winslow Corbett), who is in love with Lysander (Adam Gerber). Hermia’s father Egeus (Sherman Howard) would have her wed Demetrius (Nic Few), who is beloved by the bookish Helena (Ryman Sneed).

Hermia and Lysander run away into the forest, followed by Demetrius, pursued by Helena. Enchanted by magic (drugged) the kids become terribly mixed up. The young actors are appealing, able and fun to watch, especially when Talbot uses the real forest for some unexpected and inventive mayhem that elicits scream of laughter. He’s been directing outdoor Shakespeare productions in Great Britain for years, so it’s no wonder he’s got a bag full of tricks.

The rest of the company is wondrous, beginning with Jay Whittaker, who plays both Theseus, the ruler of Athens, and Oberon, who rules the fairy realm. For Theseus, Whittaker affects an anal-retentive persona and a high, whiney voice that drives his fiancée, Hippolyta (Krystel Lucas, who also plays Titania), to flee in the opposite direction. Whittaker is the most physical and overtly sexy Oberon ever seen. In cahoots with Hall’s horn-dog Puck, they are quite a pair.

Miles Anderson, remembered as Salieri in last season’s “Amadeus,” plays Bottom the Weaver, who is transformed into an ass and whose bubble bath is a delight. Bottom is one of six working-class commoners that enact “Pyramus and Thisbe,” a crudely written tragedy by Peter Quince (Charles Janasz). It is performed to celebrate the nuptials of Theseus and Hippolyta and the now sorted out young people.

Whatever critters the fascinating fairies may be and however foolish the mortals are, Talbot serves up one of the sexiest, most fascinating, most musical and magical productions of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” ever witnessed in long experience of the play. Bound to be a huge hit with audiences, the work bears repeat visits ere it vanishes into thin air Sept. 29.

The first of the three Old Globe Shakespeare Festival productions to open in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” continues in rotating repertory with “The Merchant of Venice” and Tom Stoppard’s “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.” Many in the repertory company play in all three works.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
WHERE: The Old Globe Theatre, 1363 Old Globe Way (Balboa Park)
WHEN: In rotating repertory through Sept. 29
INFO: 619-234-5623
WEB: theoldglobe.org