Stage Review - A Midwinter Night’s Dream (Original Theatre Black Dog)
Stage Review - A Midwinter Night’s Dream
Presented By: Original Theatre Black Dog - Issaquah, WA
Show Run: December 03 - December 22, 2024
Date Reviewed: Sunday, December 22, 2024 (Closing)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
We are fortunate here in Seattle to have so many wonderful professional and large regional theaters that attract creative and acting talent from across the country and present world premieres and local productions of popular shows, shows that stand up against anything on stage in any other city, and yes, I’m including New York in that statement. What makes the entire ecosystem so strong, though, in addition to these top tier theaters, is the smaller professional and community foundation underneath that supports them. This includes theaters with varied visions and sizes, but all with a similar goal of supporting actors and creatives at every level of development, providing a safe space for experimentation, presenting both new and familiar pieces in unique ways, and lifting up the artistic community. Many of these smaller theaters sit physically in the shadows of some of the larger venues, and many go overlooked as a result, with patrons opting for the more popular shows at the higher profile theaters. One such theatre is The Original Theatre Black Dog, which presents its shows at the Issaquah Train Depot Museum, within shouting distance of Issaquah’s more well known Village Theatre. The Original Theatre Black Dog, last weekend, closed its winter holiday show, an adaptation of the Shakespeare classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream, aptly titled A Midwinter Night’s Dream and directed by Holly Madland, which ran from December 3 through December 22. The production takes the classic play with three seemingly independent storylines coming together over the wedding of the Duke of Athens Theseus and the Queen of the Amazons Hippolyta, sets it during the winter, and dusts it with some holiday magic, all while staying true to the heart of the original story. What Holly, her creative team, and her cast have also done is shown that here within the shadow of one of the largest and most successful professional theatre organizations in the region, some of the very best theatre can be found. With A Midwinter Night’s Dream, this team has not just created one of the most engaging and entertaining versions of any Shakespeare play that I’ve seen, they’ve managed to produce by far the best version this particular piece of work.
What makes all of this even more exceptional is when you consider the fact that Holly Madland is a first time director. This is the second time this year that I’m able to sing the praises of a first time director and the fact that theaters are giving actors the chance to move into the directing space makes me excited for the future, especially when these first timers can produce work that is this good. It’s important to look at the work that Holly has done with this show, as she’s not just the director, she is also responsible for the sound design and the overall scenic design, including the set. The winterization of this classic story has to be placed on her shoulders, and she’s made the Issaquah train station museum space feel like the winter woods, but of course she hasn’t done this alone. Part of being a good director is assembling a team to help bring your vision to life, and in this regard, Holly has earned another feather in her cap. With regards to the set, with multiple locations and storylines playing out, some of the action takes place on the stage and some on the floor in front of the stage, and on the stage, there’s some with the curtain open and other scenes with it closed. The open curtain scenes are typically in the winter forest, which is represented by a beautiful mural, painted by Amit Rosenberg. It’s a beautiful piece on its own, and an exquisite backdrop for a wintery scene. She’s also brought in Tenesia Knudsen as the technical director and lighting designer, as well as Solika O’Neill as stage manager, who also helped out with so many other design aspects for the show. Many of the members of the creative team are doing double duty as they’re also actors in the show. The most impressive scene in this production, if you’re familiar with the story, is the lovers’ fight scene, when both Lysander and Demetrius are under the influence of Puck’s love potion and begin fighting over Helena. The scene is funny first off in its situation, but the way that Holly has staged it, she has made this already memorable scene exceedingly entertaining, humorous, and exciting to watch. The actors are constantly in motion, the movement, designed by Holly and stage combat choreographer Grace Madland, is challenging, flows very well between the floor and the stage, and is executed with precision by the cast. The scene is the high point of the play, and is exhilarating to watch, and it even includes a snowball fight!
The group that Holly has cast in A Midwinter Night’s Dream is one that brings a wonderful fresh energy to the story as well. The lovers, for example, Lysander (Kowan Russell), Hermia (Monique Preston), Demetrius (Adam Tapp), and Helena (Grace Madland), apply their youthful perspective to this classic, reading the classic words, but reacting as only those of their age can, or would. Those are the kinds of things that keep Shakespeare relevant, and will continue to do so, when young people understand what the Bard is saying, and don’t just speak his words but do it with the inflection and mannerisms of their particular generation. These four are excellent. Kowan as Lysander is so fun to watch, especially after he’s put under Puck’s spell and begins to chase after Helena, the latter pushing him away at every turn. That scene is particularly good between Grace and him, and it while it’s fun to watch, it also looks like the actors are enjoying the performing of it. At the same time, Kowan’s Lysander is repelled by Hermia, whom he once loved before the spell, and just like with Helena, watching this is extremely entertaining, much of both scenes coming down to how Kowan plays the role, especially in how he does it through his facial expressions. Meanwhile, Adam as Demetrius at first holds himself like the popular guy in school, handsome, ego-centric, but not in love with Hermia, to whom he is betrothed. As the play goes on, though, especially with all of the confusion caused by Puck’s love potion, deployed by order of Oberon, Demetrius becomes more than just that one dimensional character, and Adam’s performance gets better and better. Hermia and Helena, meanwhile, are more dependent on the men and their behavior, so as they go, so do the women. Monique is very good as Hermia, giddy at first at the idea of meeting her Lysander to run away with him, but she’s at her best both in the fight scene (they are are extraordinary in that scene) and when she’s contemplating the puzzlement among the group as a result of the love potion that has both men seeking Helena’s affection. And speaking of Helena, Grace is so delightful, especially when her character is fending off both Lysander and Demetrius. As much as she loves the latter, she can’t help but think they’re both up to something, and in a challenging situation for Helena, Grace adds a good deal of humor to it. In fact, they all do. I’ll give credit to this entire cast, they aren’t just reading the words on the page, they’ve done the work to understand what Shakespeare is trying to say, what his meaning is behind each word, phrase, and sentence. It’s clear they all have this understanding, that’s how they’re all able to imbue their performances with their individual energy.
The lovers’ confusion that I mentioned is caused by Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, and played here by Christine Fisk. Puck is a sprite, called upon by Oberon to gather a flower from which Oberon could create a love juice that he would give to Titania as a way to get back at her, while Puck was to give it to a particular man from Athens, though of course Puck picks the wrong one. Puck’s movements are brisk, fleeting, and, yes, spritely. Puck is also a bit on the eccentric side, of all of the characters in the play, and Christine manages the role very well. Another actor that is fun to watch. Oberon, played by Amit Rosenberg and Titania, portrayed by Tenesia Knudsen, play the parts of the troubled couple wonderfully, Oberon the resentful King and Titania the steadfast Queen. This group is a little more on the serious side, more so than the lovers especially, both Amit and Tenesia presenting their parts with the posture that represents the royalty that they are. Puck is the more lighthearted of the three, and while it’s Puck that causes a lot of the confusion with the love potion, Oberon seems more forgiving here than I’ve seen in other versions, and that’s a lot to do with how Amit delivers his lines, in his inflection. This group is also where the work of costume designer Gayle Oney is most on display. Many of the actors in the show, including the lovers, Theseus and Hippolyta, and others, have exchanged what might be their expected attire for this play with Christmas sweaters or other casual winter clothing, however with the fairies, and especially Oberon, Titania, and Puck, their costumes are simply gorgeous. Titania resembles a winter willow, matching her personality, while Oberon is the image of a Snow King. Their fairies have costumes that coordinate with the winter woods, as if they’re part of the woods themselves, and Puck’s costume is colorful and bright, and just a bit wild, just like the character is. Another thing of note, speaking of Puck, going back to Holly’s work as director, is the movement that occurs when Puck places people under a particular spell. Like magic, Puck can move people with the wave of a hand, and when Christine waves hers, the actor she is directing her motion at moves as though there is an invisible string pulling them up, as if Puck’s magic really is moving them. It’s an amazing little detail that makes this such a stellar piece of work.
The entire play is set around the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, and though their event is the play’s focal point, the roles are more supporting in the play, though they’re important to be sure. Kael Sherrard and Tracy Kirkpatrick are the Duke of Athens and Queen of the Amazons, respectively and they’re also solid in their roles. Kael is especially good as Theseus, the one who directs much of the plot around the wedding. His Theseus is strong and confident, except when he becomes a bit jealous at Hippolyta’s exploits, and he’s also jovial and festive, as he can be heard singing the odd Christmas carol. The entertainment for their wedding is to be supplied by a group of local tradespeople, moonlighting as amateur thespians, led by Peter Quince (Susan Bradford), and made up of members Nick Bottom (Patrick Ostrander), Snug the Joiner (Brooke Danley), Francis Flute (Nathan Jackson), Tom Snout (Michael Galvin), and Robin Starveling (Kayden Knudsen). The group is funny in their presentation of the play within the play, and I especially like Michael’s Tom Snout as “Wall”, but the standout by far is Patrick as Nick Bottom. Bottom is arrogant, he wants to play every role, and thinks he can, but what makes Patrick’s performance is his overdramatizing of absolutely everything he does. He delivers each line actively, and every one is funnier than the one before, adding up to the most hilarious and most entertaining performance as Bottom that I’ve seen. Kudos to him. Rounding out the cast is Karen Beisner as Egea, Ani Dasari as Peaseblossom the fairy, and Kerri Danley as Mote.
When a play has been around as long as A Midsummer Night’s Dream has, the number of adaptations that have been made of it are bound to be as varied as they are numerous. Few adaptations hit all of their marks the way that The Original Theatre Black Dog production of A Midwinter Night’s Dream does. Led by Holly Madland in her directorial debut, and performed by a youthful, energetic, and masterful cast, this wintery holiday version of Shakespeare’s classic tale just happens to be the most enchanting and entertaining adaptation that I’ve seen, proving that once again, the best theatre isn’t always in the largest houses, sometimes it exists just beyond them, or even right there, hidden in the large shadows that they cast just waiting to be discovered.
The Original Theatre Black Dog production of A Midwinter Night’s Dream has closed, but to keep up to date on the theatre and any upcoming shows, please visit them at https://www.theatreblackdog.com.
Photo credit: Anthony Floyd
