Review: 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by Shakespeare on the Sound

Norwalk, CT - Shakespeare on the Sound is celebrating its 25th season with a delightful production of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The outdoor performances at Pinkney Park in Norwalk run through July 3.

In her program note, Artistic Director Claire Shannon Kelly reminds us that Shakespeare lived through five outbreaks of the plague. “In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” each character must face adversity in order to gain a deeper understanding of love and what it means to be human. I chose to set our production in the world we are living in at this very moment. This production explores human love in a time in which our understanding of love, how to love, and what it means to love has been challenged,” she writes.

The play bears the subtitle of “a pandemic love story,” but I didn’t notice any heavy-handed pandemic references. The actors performed without masks and interacted freely. Gender bending of roles is done without apology and some roles are shared by actors as necessitated by the small cast. Ms. Kelly directed the college-aged performers and painted the comedic elements with broad strokes.

The opening of the show is set up as the “real” actors are stuck on a train and the performers reclining on blankets near the stage area who step up to be the players is a lot of fun. The actors perform an acapella version of “Under Pressure,” as well as bits of contemporary musical numbers that fit the theme, much to the delight of the audience, some of whom sang along.

The costumes and performances of the actors reminded me of a production of Stephen Schwartz’s 'Godspell,' all in a good way. The physical comedy was so strenuous that two of the actors wisely wore knee pads as part of their costumes.

Smith Alfieri, who has performed with the Adirondack Shakespeare Company, does well as both Peter Quince and the Athenian lover Lysander. NYC-based theatre artist Keara Benton, who was part of the 2019 apprentice program with this company, covers the roles of Robin Starveling, the lover Demetrius and an appropriately strong Titania.

Zachary W. Desmond plays the first Theseus, the fairy king Oberon and stands out in the role of the overacting actor Nick Bottom. This actor/playwright who attended The Juilliard School, works a puppet and plays guitar in his professional acting debut.

Fairfield county native Claire Hilton appears as the first Hippolyta, Snout/Snug and the lover Hermia. New York-based actor entering his final year with Columbia University’s MFA program Michael Karadsheh plays Francis Flute, the father Egeus, and the lover Helena.

April Lichtman, a rising senior BFA Acting major at UConn student who appeared in “Antigone” and “Men in Boats,” was adorable as the Philostrate and the fairy Mustardseed.

Jake Malavsky, an acting apprentice with this company this summer, played the role of Theseus at the end of the play, as well as the fairies Cobweb and Moth. He is currently working towards his MFA at the Actors Studio Drama School as a Shubert Scholar. Elissa Wolf, who recently earned an MA in Shakespeare and Creativity Institute in Stratford-Upon-Avon, covered the role of Hippolyta at the end of the show as well as the fairy Peaseblossom.

Various actors portray the role of the fairy Puck throughout the show. After the first switch, I failed to notice the change, so that by the time a puppet resembling those in “Avenue Q” takes on the role, it is simply hilarious.

Costumes designed by Elivia Bovenzi Blitz were both contemporary and appealing. The set was simple, but the props designed by Ms. Kelly added much to the action and the comedy.

Maia Robbins-Zust is in charge of the technical aspects of the outdoor performance and all worked extremely well. The efficient House Manager Grace Curley is a student in the Theatre Arts Program at my alma mater Sacred Heart University. I was so pleased that I was invited to see this production of “Midsummer,” my fourth of this season.

The grassy park is located next to the water. Some street parking is available along Rowayton Avenue just past Pinkney Park, newly fitted with a wooden fence on the street side and there was a police officer helping with street crossing before and after the performance. I recommend heading to the free municipal parking lot behind and next to Sails and the Rowayton Wine Shop.

The performance is a 90-minute adaptation of the play that is presented without an intermission. Two kinds of seats are offered, low camp seats closer to the stage and high back camp chairs further up the hill. Blanket seating is available closest to the action and the Tuesday night crowd was quite impressive in size.

Shakespeare on the Sound is a non-profit who produces an annual affordable production of a Shakespearean play in Fairfield County and provides Shakespeare educational programming throughout the entire year to their local community.

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Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue.

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