Theater Review: FSU/Asolo Conservatory's A Midsummer Night's Dream

SARASOTA – A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of William Shakespeare’s most accessible and oft-produced works. As such, it can be difficult for anyone who's been around theater very long to avoid seeing it performed so many times that anticipation to do so again begins to wane. The idea of the whimsical comedy being staged in the serene tranquility of the Selby Botanical Gardens was, however, enough to pique my interest. That said, director Jonathan Epstein has fashioned an imaginative production chock-full of additional reasons to get excited for this new take on a timeless classic.

Epstein is the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training’s resident Shakespeare authority and while this was his first time directing A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he has performed in it three times (all with Massachusetts’ Shakespeare & Company) and is as familiar with the bard’s canon as anyone you’re likely to come across. Epstein chose to invigorate the production with numerous nods toward modernity, infusing pop culture references more commonly seen in the school’s New Stages productions, which take abbreviated versions of Shakespeare’s work to middle schools throughout the state.

Colleen Lafeber, Dustin Babin, Nolan Hennelly and Amber Lageman.

Photo by Frank Atura

In fact, Wednesday’s opening called to mind the hilarious 2015 New Stages production of Twelfth Night (review), complete with dance numbers set to modern club music, provocative dress and cracks in the fourth wall. Epstein also benefits from what has proven to be not only the most broadly talented Conservatory class in years but a deep bench that allows even productions requiring the entire class to be performed with uncommon talent parity.

The play deals with multiple, interwoven plots, connected by the upcoming wedding of Duke Theseus of Athens and the Amazon queen, Hippolyta, which is set in the woods. In a messy Athenian love quadrangle, Hermia is head over heels for Lysander, while her father insists she wed Demetrius, who himself is the heart's desire of Helena. Dad wants her put to death if she does not acquiesce, though the Duke offers her the additional choice of lifelong chastity as a nun. Meanwhile, a band of ill-equipped, blue-collar workers intend to put on a play for the Duke's reception, titled "The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe.“

Andrew Bosworth. Photo by Frank Atura

In a parallel plot, Oberon, king of the fairies, and Titania, his queen, have come to the forest, where Titania tells Oberon that she plans to stay until she has attended Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding. To settle a score with his estranged Queen, Oberon summons Robin "Puck" Goodfellow, his "shrewd and knavish sprite," to help him procure a magic serum derived from a flower and set it to his wife.

Some mix-ups in application lead to Bottom, the actress playing Pyramus in the play within the play, being turned into a donkey who Hippolyta wakes to fall in love with. All is eventually sorted out, including rearranging the romantic designs of the four young lovers in time for a triple wedding with the Duke, along with the ill-fated performance of the play.

There is not a single weak link in the cast; however, Andrew Bosworth once more proves himself to be perhaps the most skilled actor in a class bursting with talent, bringing about uproarious laughter as Puck, while turning in another good performance in his small role as Hermia's incensed father. Bosworth has demonstrated tremendous range and unique stage presence throughout the 2016/17 season and closes it out with what may be his best turn yet.

The similarly-dynamic Kendra Spencer is once again superb as Bottom, delivering bombastic soliloquies with presence and clarity and provoking side-splitting laughter in her scenes as the donkey. Aleksandr Krapivkin, yet another superb actor in this year's class, caps off an utterly stellar season with an equally uproarious turn as the play’s author and director, Peter Quince, played as a stoic, vodka-swilling Russian, who calls to mind a poor man’s version of Chekov. Krapivkin once again brings a nuanced and understated elegance to his performance that plays perfectly off of the more manic characters surrounding him.

^{Andrew Bosworth and Nolan Hennelly. Photo by Frank Atura}

Anthony Hamilton continues to show tremendous promise, giving strong and measured performances as both Oberon and Theseus, two pivotal roles. Colleen Lafeber gives another excellent performance, this time as the scorned lover Helena, while Nolan Fitzgerald Hennelly and Dustin Babin again show strong chemistry as the two young men in the lover's quarrel, Lysander and Demetrius.

Becki Leigh’s costumes, which are always top shelf, go even further toward adding flare to the action. The unparalleled beauty of the gardens' grounds do the rest. In all, this is a very memorable night of theater that local fans will not want to miss. It runs through April 29 with performances at 8 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. For ticket information, visit the Asolo website.