The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival Continues to Bring Mesmerizing Theater to Outdoor Venues

With minimalistic set designs, the cast carries the day Credit: Courtesy Photo

Scenic design is a vital part of any theatrical show and particularly with the works of that prolific fellow William Shakespeare. His plays, which are often plopped down in the lush environs of fancy domiciles or out in nature among the flora and fauna, just beg for wonderful, imaginative scenery, clever set construction, or colorful gimcracks in profusion.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, which travels to a different outdoor locale for every performance—often a park or another appropriate outdoor setting. Due to the demands of being an itinerant acting company, the sets for their shows are stripped down to a curtain, a small stage made from boxes, and a couple other boxes used for various purposes.

That means it falls upon the cast, director and costumer to make the magic happen. And in their current production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the magic is bountiful indeed. Director Dusten Welch keeps his performers, all of whom play multiple roles, in almost constant motion as they run in and out of their portable backstage unit where they change costumes (elegant and witty ones by costume designer Jasmine Renee).

Once they stand and speak, the humor of this popular comedy set in ancient Athens blooms and occasionally explodes in hilarity. Of course, this play is all about relationships and how four young people get their hormones in a bunch thanks to the practical jokes played by the fairy mischief-maker Puck (a lithe and rascally Rachel Rittner). As ordered by Oberon the King of the Fairies (Cody Swanson), Puck uses his powers to make several of the mortals fall in love with the wrong people.

These mortals also include a band of workmen who are preparing to enact the story of “Pyramus and Thisby” for the Duke’s wedding celebration. They are led by Bottom, a pushy fellow who is given a donkey’s head by Puck. Not satisfied with that, Puck then makes Oberon’s elegant queen Titania (Katherine Nash) fall in love with Bottom whom Puck has gifted with the head of an ass.

It’s like the best episode of TMZ ever as loopy pairings collide, while protestations of love and volleys of insults erupt in unexpected ways. As Puck observes at one point, “What fools these mortals be!”

The talented cast is highlighted by a few extraordinary performances. In the role of lover Lysander and later in the cross-gender role of a workman playing Thisbe, Sam Bartlett lights up the stage with his deft timing and precise diction. He is matched by Cole Tarantowski as a competing lover Demetrius. And when the two finally clash mano-a-mano, the physical humor is a combination of The Three Stooges and one of the better slapstick efforts on SNL.

As the guys’ love objects Helena and Hermia, Dylan Seders Hoffman and Jasmine Renee create many laughs as they try to manage the carnage caused by Puck’s proliferating parade of pranks. Not to be outdone, longtime CleveShakes performer Allen Branstein mostly colors inside the lines to fashion a fulsome Bottom worth admiring.

The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival performances are a small treasure since they are free of charge. All you need to do is look up their schedule (see below), bring a folding chair or blanket, maybe half a grilled chicken or maybe some Doritos, the soda pop of your choice, and plop yourself down. Most plays are performed without intermission and run about two hours long.

Also, on your way out, why not drop a couple bills with a crooked number into their hat so they can continue to prove you don’t need any fancy set design to create mesmerizing theater.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Through July 7 at various locations in town (visit: clevelandshakespeare.org).

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