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A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Funny Fantasy

By • May 4th, 2006 • Category: Reviews

Listen to our review of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as performed by the Port Tobacco Players [MP3 4:14 1.3MB].

Laura: We saw A Midsummer Night’s Dream last night.

Mike: And we did not see the one performed by the St. Mark’s Players in Washington DC. We did not see the one performed by the Rude Mechanicals in Laurel, MD.

Laura: We saw the one performed by the Port Tobacco Players in La Plata, Md.

Mike: A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a Shakespeare fantasy play involving two couples who wish to marry. They go off into the Woods where they encounter fairies who have a bit of fun at their expense. It is a funny and complex show. Although it is Shakespeare, it is pretty straightforward and easy to follow if you pay attention.

Laura: I really enjoyed it. I thought everyone performed well tonight. It was pretty physical and they did a good job.

Mike: There was a lot of physical comedy. The fairies were all over the place. They didn’t fly, but they did scamper about. The set was really well done. It allowed the fairies to scamper about the trees and the walls easily.

Laura: The fairies, Oberon, Titania, and Puck had to do some climbing. The set designers did a really good job placing footholds in places that allowed the fairies to climb, but it did not detract from the setting. It blended right in.

Mike: It didn’t look like a ladder on the side of the building. It looked like part of the building.

Laura: I thought everyone did a really good job. The two couples were Hermia played by Rachel Nutter, Lysander played by David Timmerman, Helena played by Diana Ekelman, and Demetrius played by Kyle Tusing. They all did a great job.

Mike: The major scene that the two couples were in was hilarious. It involved fairy dust and the fairy dust making them fall in love with the wrong people. The fight that the gentlemen got into fighting over the ladies was really well done. The direction of the fight was unexpected and they pulled it off really well.

Laura: Pun intended.

Mike: There were also several fairies in the show. Everyone has heard of Puck, he was played by Jeff Paden. He did really well. It was a powerful performance bouncing around the stage with a lot of energy. There was also Oberon, the King of the Fairies. He was played by Rob Piper. Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, was played by Amy Victoria Parochetti. They did really well. Oberon had a very good stage presence. When he was onstage he took control of the scene. He had a lot of power and was able to order Puck and the other fairies around.

Laura: I really liked the costumes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They were bright, colorful, and very detailed. They looked like what a fairy would wear (not that I’ve seen a lot of fairies). The costumes that Lysander, Hermia, Helena, and Demetrius wore were very much in the time of Shakespeare. I thought everything went together well.

Mike: One thing I liked was that all of the fairy costumes were all different. it was not like an army of fairies that all had to dress alike. They had different hair styles, different looks to their costumes. Some had wings others did not. When they were on stage they lived in different places on stage. Some were hidden until their cue and would appear out of their hiding places. That was really well done. One of the nice touches in the performance was the music that was chosen for the dance scene with the fairies and the different scene introductions. I’m not going to give anything away because you need to be surprised. The musical choices added emphasis to the scene, and underscored the scene.

Laura: So that’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed by The Port Tobacco Players in La Plata, Md. It is playing May 5th through May 21st.

Mike: Once you’ve seen the show, come back to ShowBizRadio.net and leave your comments with our review.

Laura: And now, on with the show.

View the performance schedule

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One Response »

  1. hey laura and mike. thank you for coming out and seeing the show. we’re all very glad that you enjoyed our production. again, thank you so much for coming. and thank you for the nice review. take care you two.