Saratoga Shakespeare’s ‘Midsummer’ is ideal family entertainment

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » At the end of a typical production of Saratoga Shakespeare at Congress Park in Saratoga Springs, the actors mingle amongst the crowd carrying buckets soliciting donations.

Sometimes you give graciously, other times begrudgingly. On Wednesday night, at end of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” people were crowding the performers eager to donate and support the troupe in their mission of offering free theater to the public. The play was that good.

The production is a pleasant and enjoyable offering. The mostly youthful performers all had a terrific sense of character that made their silly antics both funny and endearing. Wesley Broulik’s direction brought energy and wisely incorporated the park’s environment into the proceedings.

Most of all, this edited version of one of Shakespeare’s most pleasant plays makes for a swift, fun production that takes less than two hours. This makes it an ideal family entertainment.

The central plot device is two pairs of lovers run into the woods to escape the constraints of their parents. They find themselves connected to a battle between the King and Queen of the fairies. King Oberon directs the sprite Puck to administer a potion to the eyes of Queen Titania that will cause her to fall in love with the next creature she sees.

Being spiteful Oberon arranges that creature to see be a workman - the dull braggart Bottom, who has been turned into a half-ass, half-man creation.

In an effort bring peace to the lovers, Oberon tells Puck to also anoint the eyes of one of the males so that the four young people can be in harmony with the person they love –should love.

When Puck anoints the eyes of the wrong man confusion and jealousies abound and the comedy is unleashed. The physical comedy of the young lovers is a wonderful counterbalance to the visual joke of Titania being in love with a silly creation.

Adding to the humor is the group of workman who are putting on a terrible play in order to please the king and queen. The group is led by the eager Bottom and the patient but put-upon Peter Quince. If the other elements of the play are silly this section is downright Three Stooges – or in this case six stooges.

Thanks to excellent performances by Lucy Miller as Helena and Shanya Schmidt as Hermia, the frustrations of the lovers come across as legitimate rather than as adolescent. Brian Ott as Lysander and Jorden Charley-Whatley as Demetrius offer strong support, heightening the confusion within the group.

Tim Dugan is terrific as Bottom making him a man vulnerable to his personal insecurities without having his compensating vanity become irritating. John Romeo is a delight as he brings a mature presence to Quince. Romeo gives the calm comic impression that he’s seen and dealt with this all before.

The only less -than satisfactory interpretations are that of Oberon and Titania. That’s not due to acting. Both Matt Lytle and Gwynedd Vetter-Durusch are believable regal as the royal couple, but the choice to play Oberon as a drunk deprives the character of his power and makes the trick played on Titania seem cruel and hardly funny.

Broulik uses the space of the park wisely and makes a great choice by adding an auxiliary playing space to focus on the wooded scenes. However, his choice to have performers wandering the audience and making personal contact with individuals during the performance is not only annoying, it distracts from the action on stage.

There are other of quibbles with the production. Why female Mechanicals? And especially why a tossed-about baby within the play-within-a-play? But those and other imperfections never mar the overall success of the effort. This is a fine production that is worth seeing.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” offered by Saratoga Shakespeare in Congress Park continues through July 29. Performances are 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturdays. Admission is free.