"A Midsummer Night's Dream?, or The Bard Will Rock?" by Nancy Martinez- Loose Cannon at the Project, Part II

The production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Project Arts Center veers drastically from the traditional portrayal of Shakespeare’s plays. It employs a minimalist set, and strange sound effects represent fairy magic. The actors wear rock band t-shirts, portray at least two characters each, and use an acting style nothing like that taught in a Shakespearean acting class. This version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is meant to break convention, poke fun at Shakespeare, and make the text more accessible to a larger audience. It invites many laughs, having the actors make a lot of self-reference through dialogue added about the production itself. It came up short, however, in using this medium to make the bold statements it could have about the rock subculture and the director’s interpretation of the text. The music, the costumes, the props, and the technology in this production could have been used to greater effect; and the actors’ acting technique could have been more specific in the portrayal of the characters’ roles within the rock industry and their relationships to each other.

Fairies allegedly rocking out in Loose Cannon's "A Midsummer Night's Dream?"

            The preshow music featured a selection of Black Sabbath songs, and it became clear why when some of the actors walked out wearing rock band t-shirts. One actor wore a t-shirt which featured Black’s Sabbath’s song “Paranoid.” The others wore Metallica and Dead Kennedys shirts, and the last two actors wore jeans and plain t-shirts. This directorial choice was intriguing, making one expect the production to make a statement about rock, metal, and punk subcultures; perhaps about the youth that have taken part in them, or about the glamour of the stereotypical “Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll” lifestyle of rock-stars. Or maybe the shirts clue the audience in on a unique characteristic of the respective band that the character embodies--one wonders if the characters of Oberon and Lysander will manifest battles with depression in keeping with the lyrics of the song of the actor’s Black Sabbath t-shirt, or if the actress in the Dead Kennedys shirt will display any punk ideologies.

The use of recorded sound effects as the sounds made when fairies use their magical powers wins many laughs from the audience. The sounds played when fairies freeze and strike people are something out of 60’s superhero cartoons, sounding like the “pows” and “whams” written in comic books. The sound played when they use the love potion in the love-in-idleness flower is the single, sustained note used in science fiction movies when eerie and mysterious events take place. Another notable use of technology in this production is the fog machine used towards the end of the play when the love spell is lifted from Lysander and Demetrius. Instead of being hidden offstage as is usually done, the fog machine is used by a character onstage as a prop. He sprays the fog directly at Lysander and Demetrius, causing them to topple over when they try to stand. This may have been to convey the hazy mania of a rock concert, or depict the disorienting effects of drugs--suggesting that the perceived effects of the love potion were the result of frenzying ebullience or a psychedelic trip.

These choices could have been pushed further. The fairies almost “rock out” a few times during the play, but the actors did not fully commit to this. A typical response among rock fans is to nod one’s head violently to the music’s beat, or headbang, but the actors’ version of this was too relaxed and subdued to be realistic. However, this choice did succeed  in portraying a modernized idea of what fairies might do in their spare time, and is funny and familiar to the audience, bringing to mind images of teenagers portrayed in popular culture, such as in That 70’s Show or the film Dazed and Confused. This is the extent to which rock music is used in the performance, which ignores this as an opportunity to state that the rock scene is often a haven for teenagers and young adults who are unable or unwilling to conform to the social environment. This makes music a safe form of self-expression and offers a new means of forming relationships, which could have been portrayed by these fairies as they rock out together.

The actress in the Dead Kennedys shirt did not exemplify any typical punk ideologies, which would have served the character of Helena well. The actress’ portrayal of Helena was that of a frail, needy woman. This makes sense because of the character’s abject promise of submissiveness to Demetrius (exemplified in the line “I am your spaniel”). Non-conformity, direct action, and anti-sexism are just a few examples of common punk viewpoints, and the manifestation of these would have created a character unique from other productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This would have been in harmony with this production’s break from convention--a confident, bold, demanding Helena would have broken stereotypes of women of this period, and would have made her fight for Demetrius very different and possibly more exciting to watch. Helena believes Lysander and Demetrius are mocking her at one point when they both suddenly act as though they are in love with her. By using the punk culture here, the audience could have been exposed to a brazen woman willing to employ some physical form of protestation to the breakup and called men out on their sexist objectification of her as the actress only used Shakespeare’s text.

Playing the love story straight as it were.

            The production breaks convention again through the use of language and the set design. The actors use their own Irish accents, not English Theater Standard or American Theater Standard, which serves to localize as well as modernize the play. There were deliberately comical choices in the delivery of lines, such as Pucks’ recital of his monologues in a sing-song-y style and Oberon’s unique speech pattern that caused him to break lines up in strange places. There were a few extra lines added as well; little remarks on the quality of the play or props. The minimalist set it was performed on had white sheets placed to create the walls and floor of the set, with only a table laden with food and alcohol as props. This may have been done to bring the audience’s attention to the actors, forcing us to watch the actors and not their props.

            The employment of such specific and comical speech choices called for the acting itself to either match in comical effect or ignore the speech entirely. Since the play was not “traditional” in other aspects of the production, the acting should have either veered far from traditional Elizabethan acting as well, or been done as seriously and earnestly as possible. Such bold and specific choices would either enhance the unconventional and comical use of the sound and set, or disregard it completely to make a statement on the theater’s reliance on props and tradition. Because of the use of cartoonish sounds and unique speech patterns, the characters themselves could have been more cartoonish, with more exaggerated movements and body language to complete the larger-than-life quality of the characterizations. Since Oberon spoke so melodramatically and wore a glittering rock band shirt, his physical choices could have been just as exaggerated to create the image of glamour and self-importance prevalent among rock-stars. A serious, conventional acting approach would have made the drastically different choices in costume and set much more resonant with the audience, forcing the audience to search for the significance of these choices. It also would have served in making the production funny (which appeared to be the director’s goal throughout the production) because of the characters’ ignorance to the absurdity of their surroundings and clothing. But neither of these extreme approaches was taken in the acting, leaving the actors’ performances in a sort of middle ground which rendered the bold choices made in other aspects of the production irrelevant, and therefore distracting rather than enhancing.

Because of the lack of set change and costuming, stronger characterization would have also helped the audience follow the story. The only costume change employed was the addition of children’s costume fairy wings, and lack of character differentiation made the actors’ performances one big blur. Also, the use of the actors’ self-reference throughout the production made the audience aware of itself as an audience, bringing us out of the story. This could have been used to greater effect if it had been done more sparingly. If done less, it would have been funnier when done, and would still have created a cohesive story for the audience to follow. The use of certain props could have been clarified as well. Because the rock cultures were not manifested through the actors’ characterizations, one is left unsure as to whether the use of the fog machine was chosen to represent mania or drug use, causing one to question the director’s choices instead of receiving a clear statement about rock music.

Prop table with fairy wings on the left. 

The production lacked specificity in a lot of aspects. When a few very bold choices are made but the rest of the production does not back them up, the choices become distractions. No clear statement is made, even to those in the audience who actively participate in rock, punk, and metal subcultures. Sound effects and special effects can be used to great theatrical effect, and minimalist sets can serve to focus the audience on the characters, but when the characters themselves offer no distinct and specific choices and actions, the whole production becomes hazier than the moment the actor pulled out the fog machine. It all brings the audience out of the story without reason: the audience does not question its values, nor does it have a new view on teen subcultures, which is what the director’s choices in this production could have done.