I actually had a chance to perform in Midsummer in college, so I have a real fondness for the show. It has some intrinsic structural problems, but it’s always magical. This was a fine rendition, and a great way to spend the evening.
- Excellent cast, as always. The Arvada repertory company is incredibly strong, and Geoffrey Kent (as Bottom, &c.) and Annie Barbour (as Puck, &c.) did stand-out jobs amongst some very good performances.
- As a company of eight, most of the actors were doubled (sometimes more). AMND is well set up for that — the lovers / court, the mechanicals, and the fairies have their stories run separately enough to allow some quick costume shifts to keep things together with the limited cast. This was aided by the conceit of the setting — a traveling troupe entertaining people in what appears to be a post-apocalyptic world.
- The Arvada black box is set up fully in the round this season, but the cast and action did marvelously with it.
- The show stayed pretty faithful to the Shakespeare, with the exception of some musical sets and shenanigans by the mechanicals, and (which worked delightfully) a gender-bend to have Titania and Puck being the conspirators that set Oberon on a romantic collision course with Bottom-as-ass.
This was the second night of the show, which runs through 16 May. I highly recommend it.
Want to know more?
- The Production’s Flickr Album
- The Arvada Center page for the show
- A video with the director (below):
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