Displaying items by tag: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Forget everything you know about A Midsummer Night's Dream. Don't recall images of the classical ballet, or lines from Shakespeare's play, and definitely don't think about how often the singular possessive noun is used incorrectly by putting the possessive on the wrong word. A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Joffrey Ballet trumps any rendition of the classic you’ve ever seen. It is a trip, and needs to be experienced in order to fully appreciate it.

The artistic direction was inspired not by the play but by the actual tradition of Midsummer, specifically celebrated in Sweden. In Sweden, Midsummer's Eve is one of the most important days of the year, rivaling Christmas with its festive spirit and traditions. Traditionally, Midsummer was celebrated on June 24, the feast day of St. John the Baptist, but the holiday has its roots in a pre-Christian solstice festival.

The play opens with a sleeping man who awakes in a dream like state to take a roll in the hay. The curtain rises revealing the Joffrey corps beating and rolling in the hay in perfect unison. They are jubilant, frolicking before an enormous sun, the entire stage and wings exposed to lend the scene a rustic, industrial feel. After cleaning up the hay, the midsummer festivities begin, there is laughter, kissing, sunbathing, dancing around a maypole, wearing crowns of wild flowers, toasting to the audience, all culminating in a Gatsby like way until they pass out, crawl, or drag each other home. Americans needs to adopt this holiday immediately. Accompanied by a haunting, ethereal vocalist, the ballet took us on a fantastic and hilarious trip.

Contrasting the first act’s dreamlike party, the second act was a trippy nightmare complete with a passionate pas de deux, dead fish, and Wild Wild Country-like expressions of raw emotion (those who've watched the documentary know what I’m talking about). The trip was a slow burn, building in intensity and complexity, leaving the audience to exclaim, “I have no idea what I just watched, but I loved it.”

Sitting behind the Swedish ambassador to the United States and her delegation, Rahm Emmanuel and his wife in attendance, and a packed house, the Joffrey's premiere of this production could not have been more well received. The swedish guests beamed and marveled at the ballet, and were the first to rise and give a standing ovation. Ashley Wheater, the ballet’s artistic director, celebrating his 10th year with the company, has created a modern festival that encapsulates the fervor and the magic of the Midsummer holiday. The jubilation is not lost in translation even though Americans do not have an equivalent holiday to reference, instead they are exposed to what seems to be the greatest holiday since Halloween. With choreography and set design by Alexander Ekman, and music by Mikael Karlsson, they've developed a piece that showcases not only the ballet dancers contemporary prowess, strength, and grace, but also gave them room to act, and laugh, and show their personalities in a way that I've never seen in any other ballet production. It's nothing short of a modern masterpiece.

There's an old Swedish proverb that says “Midsummer night is not long, but it sets many cradles to rock,” which accurately summarizes this ballet. I encourage you to let your imagination interpret the proverb, think about this when viewing this marvelous and magical production, and to lobby Rahm to adopt this holiday as Chicago’s newest summer tradition.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream plays at the Auditorium Theater through May 6th, tickets can be purchased at http://www.joffrey.org/midsummer.

In one of William Shakespeare’s most popular works, A Midsummer Night’s Dream has been performed widely across the world, this summer finding a temporary home at First Folio Theatre (Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oakbrook). Celebrating twenty years of the company’s annual Shakespeare Under the Stars Production, theatre goers are treated to a comedy that is acted out to perfection. Not only do we get a myriad of fine acting performances, the colorful costumes and imaginative set lend greatly to a magical night out when coupled with the fact that the stage is surrounded by the vast night sky, a backdrop of thick trees and happy picnickers beyond the first few rows of seats. 

A comedy that features mischievous faeries who live within the forest, the play focuses on the events leading up to the marriage of Duke Theseus and Hippolyta, an affair taking place just on the edge of Fairyland. With interconnecting plots, the story unfolds of Hermia who is in love with Lysander despite her father Egues’ arrangement that marry Demetrius. Infuriated, Egues calls upon Athenian law to which Hermia would face death if she chooses not to wed the suitor hand-picked by her father. At the same time Demetrius is loved by Helena but her offerings are rejected. Naturally, Oberon, the king of the faeries and Titania, his queen, cannot help but meddle with the four lovers and mistakes are made.

The story also follows a colorful band of laborers, or “mechanicals” as referred to by the fairy, Puck, who are to perform a play about Pyramus and Thisbe for Theseus’ wedding. The mechanicals too are manipulated by the faeries ultimately performing their play so poorly that it is mistaken for a comedy – one of the highlight’s of this charming production. 

Steve Pebbles as the over-confident and highly zealous mechanical, Bottom, and Sarah Wisterman as Hermia are certainly scene-stealers beautifully translating Shakespearean humor to that of today’s. Both Pebbles and Wisterman display a knack for comedic line delivery along with the perfect touch of physical humor that really opens the door wide open for this comedy to breathe at just the right pace. But as much as Pebbles and Wisterman stand out, the play is not without other tremendous performances including Michael Joseph Mitchell in the dual roles of Theseus and Oberon, Tony Carter as Demetrius, Sydney Germaine as Puck and Ali Burch as Helena. In all, we get a very strong cast that delivers, skillfully playing off each other in bouts of impressive exchanges filled with passion and humor. 

Hayley Rice finely directs this classic comedy that deals with the muddle and complications that relate to love. Rice opts for dual casting for the roles of Titania and Hippolyta as well as Theseus and Oberon, avoiding confusion by creating a fairy world that takes place in modern day, thus sneakers, sunglasses and a boom box as opposed to buckled shoes and sixteenth century instruments. The twist works to separate the characters and creates an entertaining group that could easily be found at Paisley Park, but it does away from the fairy-tale period that we have come to identify A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

A fascinating production that has just the right amount of laughs, fantasy and trickery, First Folio’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a memorable summer event that keenly interprets Shakespeare for today’s audience thanks to its outstanding direction and role execution by this talented cast. 

Audience comfort is also considered. Mosquito repellent candles are strategically placed throughout the first few rows where padded seats are lined with blankets to share. Attendees can also choose to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets and sit wherever they like. With a show start time of 8:15 pm, First Folio invites guests to enter the grounds at 6:45 pm should they like to picnic or simply take in the atmosphere. Quaint, family-friendly and enchanting, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is being performed on the grounds of Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oakbrook Wednesday through Sunday until August 14th. Tickets are a bargain at from $29-$39 with children under thirteen at just $10. FOr tickets and/or more show information, visit www.firstfolio.org.