Cappies Review: South Lakes HS, A Midsummer Night's Dream

By Zander Kuebler of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

A low, creeping fog slinks across the stage, enveloping stumps and vines as it pools and disperses into the audience. It is certainly an impressive effect, but to what show does it belong? Perhaps a modern American romance, or maybe a 20th century Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery. It's not a regular old Shakespeare, right? Well, it actually is a Shakespeare, just one that is definitely not regular or old. South Lakes High School puts a Louisiana Bayou spin on Shakespeare's age-old favorite "A Midsummer Night's Dream," twisting the comedy into a new kind of masterpiece.

Written in the 1590s by William Shakespeare, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" deals with two royal faeries, Titania and Oberon, whose presence near Athens disrupts the lives of the locals. Included in these locals, are four young Athenians stuck in a sort of love rectangle, who venture into the forest to solve their love-life problems, and get mixed up with magic, trickery, and even an acting troupe. Complete with countless opportunities for comedy mixed with a variety of interconnected plots, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" has been a theatre favorite for centuries and remains a favorite with the South Lakes High School production.

The four lovers, Lysander (Noah Rice), Demetrius (Kiran Drew), Hermia (Serena Mandala-Kol), and Helena (Farrah Greeves), are responsible for carrying the brunt of the main plot and have to somehow connect with the audience while remaining comedic. This daunting task can't stop the four actors at South Lakes, who exhibit remarkable chemistry with one another and create necessary intimate moments among an otherwise chaotic show. But don't let their intimacy fool you, these four stellar performers have no trouble joining in with the chaos when the time comes. When Hermia and Helena grow angry with one another and Lysander and Demetrius are forced to separate them to keep them from fighting, the four actors dive headfirst into the pandemonium. The overly dramatic physicality of Mandala-Kol and Greeves as they struggle towards each other through the desperate grasps of Rice and Drew, who each have their own humorously pained expressions, leaves the audience in absolute hysterics and illustrates the flexibility of the actors.

Speaking of leaving the audience in hysterics, Ennis Shabab as Nick Bottom brings another dollop of laughs into the already hilarious production. The character Bottom, a member of the acting troupe, is considered to be an "over-actor." This trait leaves ample opportunity for the actual actor playing Bottom to make everything he does funny. Let's just say Shabab is eager to seize that opportunity.

So sure, we laughed, but it was a comedy, and that's supposed to happen. It's the technical elements that should bring authenticity. Absolutely, but the crew at South Lakes High School did more than just bring authenticity. In addition to the eerie fog, the technical departments worked together to create a truly magical ambiance. For instance, the fairies were doused in shiny gold with green vine-like patterns crawling up and down their limbs, and tiny lights radiating in all directions from their fingertips. These fairies danced student choreography to a song with student-written music in a Louisiana Bayou environment, illustrating the ability of the South Lakes technicians to work in tandem to create something beautiful.

There's no doubt about it; the cast and crew of South Lakes High School's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" twisted the classic Shakespearean comedy into something that never seen before.