Midsummer Night's Dream Review

Civic puts twist on traditional 'Dream'

Friday, November 16, 2007
BY ROGER LELIEVRE The Ann Arbor News

The last time Ann Arbor Civic Theater tackled Shakespeare, with "The Tempest'' this past March, the results were underwhelming.

Happily, Civic's production of The Bard's "A Midsummer Night's Dream,'' which opened Thursday,'' fares far better.

This is a "Dream'' with a twist - although most of Shakespeare's dialog remains intact, it's set in Baghdad - not the one of modern day strife, but a Baghdad of around 1,000 years ago, when the area was considered a center of culture and the arts. Nor are the characters known by their more familiar names: Titania, Puck and Bottom have been rechristened Shamhat, Div and Kebab, and other characters and locales have similarly been recast.

Those used to the same old "Dream'' may find the changes a bit jarring at first, and will probably spend some time wondering who should be who. A message from director Jeff Meyers urges viewers to forget about traditional versions of the show, and that's excellent advice. There's another change as well: the play-within-a-play Pyramus and Thisbe has been replaced with "The Night Harun Al Rashid Met Himself Upon the Water,'' adapted from "One Thousand and One Nights.'' Although that alters the tone of the final act in a way I can't reveal, it works just fine and is perhaps a more dramatic ending than you'd expect.

And what of the actors? All the principals are excellent and, according to the program, many are new to A2CT. Especially good are Margaret Teall (Saffiah), Aaron Rabb (Enkidu), Katina Nicols (Abassa), Jon Stockdale (Kassim) and John Prakapas (the deep-voiced Ja'far). Brittany Batell as Div (the Puck, if you must) is excellent, loose-limbed and appropriately mischievous looking. Ahmed Musslimani, superb as Kebab, and able to convey a wide range of facial expressions, gets a chance to show both comic and dramatic sides as a player in the mechanicals.

The costumes (Nan Wirth) are colorful and detailed, and the set (Anne K. Magee, Jeff Meyers), mostly just three platforms and some gauzy drapes, is perfect in its simplicity, enhanced by rich lighting and projections.

The director has said that setting Shakespeare's work in Baghdad is an effort to reach out to and bring Middle-Eastern and American communities together in times of misunderstanding. For that alone, this effort deserves acclaim.

Fortunately, the show earns its applause on stagecraft as well. This "Dream'' is just that.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream''' continues through Sunday at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, at the Michigan League, 911 N. University Ave. in Ann Arbor. Information: Visit www.a2ct.org, or call 734-971-2228.