Shakespeare works in the ’60s, but this ‘Dream’ lacks passion

Director Robert Benedetti has come up with an imaginative take on "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The only trouble is his concept winds up smothering the script.

Shakespeare's romantic comedy is one of the author's most popular. Two pairs of lovers (played by Ryan Fonville, Aaron Marcotte, Jaime Pucket and Lisa Ferris) flee the dangers of the city for the safety of the forest. They find fairies, mismatches, magic spells and, finally, love.

Benedetti has set the story in 1969 in the Nixon-era White House. The fairies resemble flower-children on leave from San Francisco, and the blue-collar workers who put on a play for the "royalty" talk in Archie Bunker twangs.

The characters seem at home in Benedetti's light-hearted adaptation. The late '60s serves as the perfect backdrop for talk of love and peace and sexual confusion.

Unfortunately, this production is missing too basic an element: passion. You never believe that these lovers have any interest in one another. They're too busy timing out comic bits. There's no hint that the action is the result of desire.

The blue-collar workers -- headed by Kenn McLeod as Bottom, a man who winds up getting transformed into an ass -- are peculiarly unfunny. The way they move, chew gum, fake what sounds like a New York accent, are laborious and false. They've been directed to bring down the house instead of be human.

The one actor who seems to really belong in this world is Griffin Stanton-Ameisen as the fairy Puck. When this performer smiles contentedly at some mischievous prank he's pulled, you can feel his childlike glee. With his skateboard and pink-tinted glasses, Stanton-Ameisen makes the role his own.

Ashleigh T. Poteat's set and Marihan Mehelba's light designs make the forest the sort of mystical place in which Pee-wee Herman might hang out. Kehler Relick's costumes are rich in exaggerated color (and properly subdued for the city scenes), and Christopher Lash's music goes a long way in heightening the story's stakes.

The production ends with an exhilarating number that gives off vibes from the "Hair" song "Let the Sunshine In." It's a perfect, feel-good finale. It's just too bad that the rest of the time, Benedetti hasn't integrated the carefully worked-out routines into the heart of what should be a very sexy play.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at DelValle@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.