There’s no doubt the crowd was ready to enjoy what should be an ideal play for Shakespeare in the Park. Set in a forest at the height of summer, the piece has a straightforward plot, which means the crowd can let its mind wander a bit (an inevitability in Central Park) and still follow what’s going on before them. Director Daniel Sullivan (“Rabbit Hole”) is easily one of the most trusted artists on Broadway and the cast is composed uniformly of talented dramatic actors. So why was this production—even at its best—adequate?
The blame doesn’t lie with the actors, a group who’ll be familiar to frequent theatergoers. Martha Plimpton (“The Coast of Utopia”) and Mireille Enos (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”) look winsome and act smart as they’re chased by spell-zapped boys. Keith David (a Shakespeare regular) and Laila Robins (a Broadway regular) lead the fairies capably, while Jay O. Saunders (“Stuff Happens”) makes for an oddly melancholy ass-headed Bottom. NYC newcomer Jon Michael Hill shows flashes of promise as Puck.
In fact, that’s exactly what each of these actors seem to show: flashes of promise. There’s nothing holding their performances together, which suggests that the blame lies with Sullivan. He doesn’t seems to have invested much energy or thought in his production (though he did put his body at stake when, during a rehearsal, he plunged though an open trapdoor, shattering four ribs and puncturing a lung.) He doesn’t use his cast or designers to create the world of magic, love and lunacy that Shakespeare wrote.
Sullivan’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” feels like a throwback to an antiquated way of playing the Bard. The pace is stately, the tone is decorous and there’s nothing lively to shock the slow heartbeat of an elderly Victorian widow. At its best, this style can seem elegant but at its worst, just dull. Everybody acts proper, sober and uptight—even when someone observes “here come the lovers, full of joy and mirth.” It’s an odd way to treat “Midsummer,” a play full of buoyancy.
This ponderous tone finds its visual expression in the 19th-century costumes, which are heavy and black, with the girls in bustles, the boys in waistcoats and the lower class in raggedy vests. The fairies are played by five-year-olds, which is as twee and irritating as it sounds. They wait upon Titania, which (unforgivably) materializes her—she’s even pushing a pram (!), looking more Mary Poppins than fairy queen. There’s no sexual heat between her and the transfigured Bottom, nor do the young lovers strike sparks as they swap partners.
With all this propriety, it’s no surprise that the audience responded with applause that’s merely respectful. This is “Midsummer” in the dog days of summer, caught in the doldrums.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” runs until September 9th at the Delacorte Theater. Performances Tue. – Sun. at 8 p.m.
Pick up free tickets on the day of the performance beginning at 1 p.m. at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park or from 1-3 p.m. at The Public Theater (425 Lafayette St.)
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