A Midsummer Night’s Dream CritiqueIn early October, the Alliance Theater performed a Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
This was a 90 minute adaptation based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by David Catlin. This specific performance, because it was outdoors, was very magical and appealing to the eye, yet maintained the comedy element of the play. The plot consisted of two couple dealing with a series of issues that love brings such as jealousy, wild emotions, and misunderstanding. There were also a number of other characters and elements to continue the prohibiting of these couples to a successful relationship in the end.The actor who played Petunia had confidence when she walked on set. In the beginning she was told to marry someone she wasn’t in love with.
Her acting blended well with the others’ because of her chemistry. She brought energy to the audience and part of the reason that was, was because it was quite intimate and small. After the conundrum about who marries who, the audience is introduced to another character.The actor who played Francis Fern, her fiance brought that sort of eary element to the scene. His costume was very plain and regular compared to everyone else who dressed as if they were on television. His relationship seemed to go downhill when Lily entered the scene with her fiance, Michael.
In a sense, a lot of each couple’s problems stemmed from the other and kept elaborating off each other throughout the play. The location was the botanical garden, so this particular setting gave the play a calmer environment. The lighting design was beautiful and changed with the mood of the scene. There were also smooth transitions between acts and scenes; no choppy transitions were noticeable to the audience.
Crew used the comedic timing and lighting hand in hand which was effective. The actors all had their fair share of shine and did not try to outperform each other. The fact that the Shakespearean play takes place in an enchanted forest made the whimsical botanical garden an even more appropriate place to have this performance.
