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A dreamy season opener at the Blackbird

There are a number of impressive elements to the Blackbird Theatre's season-opening production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" – but none more so than this: Director Barton Bund tells the Bard's popular, but complicated masterpiece with only five actors playing 17 (or more) roles. And the result is quite an enchanting night of theater indeed!

In "Dream," Shakespeare interweaves three tales of lovers, fairies and artisans to explore the follies of romance – and to ultimately reveal that no matter our status in life, from royalty to the lowly traveling actor, we all succumb to the same topsy-turvy and often-conflicting emotions that define "love."
Bund keeps his production anchored to its original time and place, that of ancient Greece. Yet, since much of the plot is driven by magic spells and sleep, he sets the action on a pastel-colored, dream-like, multi-level set designed by Monika Essen that perfectly captures the atmosphere of the show. (Imagine the result if you mixed the groundbreaking style of the UPA cartoons of the 1950s with the '60s flower-power movement. OK – I'm showing my age with that reference, but it works.)
More fascinating, however, is the action on and around Essen's innovative creation.
Since the script calls for 11 major characters and several minor ones, Bund has had to come up with some rather unique ways to tell the story – and for the most part, his creative storytelling works quite well.
Each of the five actors plays a minimum of three characters, and should they run out of bodies on stage, an actor simply adapts and becomes the necessary "walk on." (They, like us, are in on the joke.) Or when an actor plays two characters in the same scene, it's achieved by the performer poking their head out from behind the curtain – taking turns with the appropriate character's head wear showing, of course.
And in other cases, some "busy work" is added between scenes to allow the actors time to change their costumes. (Essen's colorful costumes are worn in layers, so that the actors can – theoretically, at least – quickly throw on and toss off the various pieces.)
Bund's most significant achievement, however, is this: All five actors have full command over the Bard's style of writing and medieval language. Since THEY know the meaning of the text, so too does the audience – a trick often lost on young actors. As such, the ancient-sounding dialogue quickly melts away, allowing theatergoers to focus on the story and not the "thees," "thous" and other strange-sounding words and phrases.
That's particularly true of actors Rashon Massey and Lorenzo Toia.
Massey, especially, grasps the shadings behind the Bard's words, and delivers them not only with a crisp voice, but with flexible eyes, face and body, as well. Whether he's playing the lover Lysander or Thisbe (a woman) in the actors' play, he's a joy to behold – and watch!
So too is Toia. As Demetrius, he has fine moments opposite Jamie Weeder's Hermia, but it's when he lets loose as Nick Bottom playing Pyramus in Act 2 – with hands and legs flying in all directions – where he truly excels. (In fact, the entire cast is at its tip-top best in Act 2 when the artisans FINALLY stage their play for the Duke of Athens.)
The show's few minor weaknesses seen on opening night will likely be rectified rather quickly: Some of the dialogue – especially early on – is delivered too quickly and without clear enunciation. And which character an actor is playing is not always evident upon their entrance. (In other words, vocal and physical distinctions are sometimes muddled.)

REVIEW:
'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
Blackbird Theatre, 1600 Pauline, Ann Arbor. Friday-Sunday through Oct. 31. $10-$20. 734-332-3848. http://www.blackbirdtheatre.org

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