600 Words Drama Review - Due in 6 Hours

An Old

Favorite

with a New

Twist

Wows at

Arden GORDON WALBERT

Katherine Powel (Hippolyta), Lindsay Smiling (Oberon), and Mary Tuomanen (Puck)

A Midsummer Night’s

Dream by William

Shakespeare performed at

Arden Theater March 2 –

April 9 directed by Matt

Pfeiffer

The Arden Theater Company

produced a musical version of

the classic play A Midsummer

Night’s Dream. Under the

direction of Matt Pfeiffer, the

whole cast put on one of the

most memorable performances

of Shakespeare. This romance

filled comedy follows two

couples and a cast of players as

their night in the forest is

meddled with by fairies and

powers greater than their own.

The theme of love that is central

to the play is translated and

enhanced by the musical

accompaniment scored by Alex

Bechtel.

This update on the old

classic made Shakespeare more

accessible to even the most

inexperienced theater goers yet

still enjoyable to the well

versed. The whole production

had a southern folk hipster feel

to it. The set was a free-flowing

backdrop full of instruments,

vintage chairs, and an upper

level balcony that added a depth

to a smaller more intimate

theater. The actors were in

trendy street clothes for most

the production, and the score

can best be described as indie

folk covers pop. The actors all

fit their own roles like they

were written for them, which is

doubly impressive when it is

discovered that all but one actor

is double cast. The audience

had two favorites. The loud

stand-offish Puck, as played by

Mary Tuomanen, was a

character perfectly designed to

be a vehicle for Shakespeare’s

tongue-in-cheek humor. Nick

bottom, played by Dan Hodge,

is the egotistical, wannabe

super-star that the audience

loves to see as the butt of jokes.

Both actors flawlessly executed

their roles as comedic relieve

during the more somber

moments of the play.

Matt Pfeiffer, who did 18 seasons with the

Pennsylvania Shakespeare

Festival, is no stranger to

Shakespearean Productions, and

it is very evident in this

production. Matt’s masterful

rework manages to convey all

the same messages as the

original while bringing it up to

date with the times. It is very

apparent that Matt trusted his

cast to play with their roles just

as he did with the script and the

score (with the assistance of

Bechtel of course). Matt and the

whole production crew artfully

executed all the technical

aspects of the production

enhance the acting and the

storyline. Bravo to the Arden

Theater Company, cast, and

crew on a wonderful, updated

production of the Shakespeare

classic, A Midsummers Night

Dream.