Shotgun Players’ current production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is extraordinary successful in its non-traditional casting. Several male roles are performed gracefully by gender fluid, non-binary actors. . The romantic female leads are not “traditional” in their beauty. Many performers are actors-of-color. gender fluid, and non-binary. Puck is not childish or small or particularly cute, but lanky, acrobatic, and more than a little bit creepy. The faeries are rather punk. The performances are loud, enthusiastic and exciting.
All of this is very much to the good. For many audience members, the decision to stage “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” as a celebration of diversity in all its many expressions will be more than enough reason to enjoy this rambunctious production. It could even be argued that it is perhaps the best way to approach the play for today’s audiences.
The cast are all highly capable performers. Rolanda D. Bell, as Helena, is especially charismatic. (Some audiences may remember her very brilliant work last year in Oakland Theater Project’s dazzling production of “Is God Is.”) Susannah Martin shines as the leader of the “mechanicals” (amateur actors putting on a show for Duke Theseus). Matt Standley’s Snug (another “mechanical”) is hilarious. The rest of the cast also acquit themselves well. This production is colorful, lively, funny, and entertaining.
But, for me, something important was missing. With “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” the Bard of Stratford did not just create a merry romp, full of slapstick and big laughs. He created a deep, even profound, meditation on human love and sexuality, and how our desperate needs for love and sexual fulfillment can drive us mad and lead us to the deepest of human emotions. His fairies are not just otherworldly, but rather cruel and indifferent, making playthings of the humans, even as they, themselves, become the playthings of love. Shakespeare constructed his comedy with many layers, lacing it with poetry and melancholy. It is full of nuance. Bottom, especially, is one of Shakespeare’s richest characters, who begins as a buffoon but is somehow transported into a mystic (a man who has dreams “without a Bottom”) under the influence of fairy magic. Indeed, as Shakespeare wrote this play, all of the characters undergo remarkable change and growth resulting from their encounters with the supernatural. It is disturbing. So disturbing, in fact, that Shakespeare added a brief epilogue (a sort of trigger warning after the fact) delivered by Puck at the play’s closing.
None of this richness is apparent in the current production. The characters remain the same at the end as at the beginning. Although the diversity of this production is marvelous and delightful, much of Shakespeare’s nuance, melanchol0y undertones, and the depths of poetry have been given short shrift,
It would appear that while director William Thomas Hodgson focussed with great success on creating a celebration of diversity, he neglected other elements of the play. The cast is excellent and the production is a worthy outing. For those who might find Shakespearean language difficult and foreign, it is highly accessible.
But it could have been so much more.
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Rating: *** (For an explanation of Theatrestorm’s rating scale, click here.)
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“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare, presented by Shotgun Players. Director: William Thomas Hodgson. Compoer & Musical Director: Erika Oba. Scenic Designer: Sarah Phykitt. Costume Designer: Ashley Renee. Lighting Designer: Stephanie Anne Johnson. Props Designer: Leah Hammond. Sound Designer & Music Producer: Sara Witsch. Fight Choreographer: Raisa Donato. Intimacy Choreographer: Natalie Greene.
Cast:
Helena: Rolanda D. Bell. Bottom: Oscar Woodrow Harper III. Puck/Philostrate: Jamin Jollo. Hermia/Fairy: Celeste Kamiya. Egeus/Quince/Peaeblossom: Susannah Martin. Demitrius: Fenner Merlick. Lysander: G. Momah. Titania/Hippolyta: Radhika Rao. Flute/Moth/Fairy: Kevin Rebultan. Oberon/Theseus: Veronica Renner.
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TheatreStorm 
I would love to know who defines “traditional beauty”?
“The romantic female leads are not “traditional” in their beauty.” If you feel it NECESSARY to comment on this, you can just say “the beautiful romantic leads…”
Commenting on actors physical features in this way shows us the perspective a misogynistic, white cis male. Is this really a reviewer we should be investing in?
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In an ideal world, diversity would not be worth noting, but would simply be taken for granted.
But, as things stand today, I think it IS worth noting – how can I note it without giving offense?
The director’s notes for this production specifically mentioned that he meant to celebrate diversity with this production.
I am puzzled how to fix this. I wanted to call attention to, and celebrate, the physical diversity of the cast members. How could I do that?
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