Riley Shanahan, Jeanne Syquia, Kasey Mahaffy (Photo by Craig Schwartz)
Reviewed by Dana Martin
A Noise Within
Thru November 22
RECOMMENDED
A Midsummer Night’s Dream conjures spirits of another sort at A Noise Within in Pasadena. The current production is a dramatic, brooding visual spectacle that celebrates the dark night of the spirit world and, sometimes, overpowers the performances.
There’s trouble a-brewing in Athens. The impending marriage of Duke Theseus (Zach Kenney) to Queen Hippolyta (Trisha Miller) has brought a frenzy of lords to court. Young Hermia’s (Erika Soto) dad is weirdly forcing her to marry Demetrius (Rafael Goldstein) who loves her —but she is having none of it. She loves Lysander (Riley Shanahan), and since they can’t wed in Athens, the lovers concoct a hasty plan to run away, get married and live abroad. They spill the news to BFF Helena (Jeanne Syquia) who almost immediately spills the news to Demetrius who promptly chases Hermia and Lysander into the woods, and while Helena chases Demetrius. Elsewhere in Athens, amateur actors ineptly rehearse a play in preparation for Theseus’ wedding celebration.
Meanwhile the King and Queen of the fairies, Oberon (Kenney) and Titania (Miller), are in an epic lovers’ quarrel, upending the seasons and causing general discombobulation. Oberon’s menacing pixie Puck (Kasey Mahaffy) is commissioned to cause chaos in the form of a love juice meant to misconstrue love’s eye. He turns braggart, wannabe actor Nick Bottom (Frederick Stuart) into a donkey with whom Titania falls madly, mistakenly in love. Puck makes a further mess of confusing the lover’s affections, causing both Lysander and Demetrius to reverse course and pursue Helena, much to the rage of Hermia.
Finally Oberon has enough of love’s misguided madness and instructs Puck to remove his cast spells from Titania and the lovers. In turn, Oberon and Titania reconcile and so do the lovers. The seasons and sense of normalcy return and there are marriages aplenty. The story winds to a close as the newlywed lovers watch a silly play about love starring Nick Bottom and the Mechanicals.
In this highly stylized production, Athens is a stark, black-and-white reality where the rule of law is God and there is little room for expression or freedom of choice: Get in line or pay the price.
The atmosphere is cold, wet and slightly sinister. The seasons are in disarray and there’s an impending sense of danger. But it works, strangely; it’s an unusual and fascinating world. Co- directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott, the slick production creatively synergizes the bold design elements, though the play itself is uneven: sometimes the action is timid and under energized, other times it’s appropriately aggressive.
The lovers rise to the occasion, mostly when they’re running. The more they loosen restraint (and discard clothing) the more honest their performances become. Jeanne Syquia’s performance as Helena takes time to warm up. Erika Soto’s Hermia is solid. Rafael Goldstein’s Demterius is delightfully uptight while Riley Shanahan finds an affable Lysander. Kasey Mahaffy’s Puck is a large-looming presence and Mahaffy’s dry, almost maniacal delivery illuminates the iconic character in a fresh way. Trisha Miller’s Titania is gritty and sensual; a great match to Zach Kenney’s petulant, impulsive Oberon. Frederick Stuart is straightforward and subdued as Nick Bottom. Much credit is due the ensemble who unwaveringly support the world of the play and execute conceptual ideas with style.
The production’s design concept is the star of the show; a visual and auditory feast. Ken Booth’s rich, exciting lighting design adds depth and texture to the story and Frederica Nascimento’s bold
scenic design is a work of art. Stephen Taylor’s property design adds dramatic pops of color and flare. Robert Oriol’s sound design is creative and adds richness and complexity to the world of
the play, though the production sometimes borders musical theater which doesn’t always jive. Angela Balogh Calin’s costume design is detailed and lovely, enhanced by Tony Valdes’ astute wig and makeup design.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a story about love and friendship gone magically, maniacally awry. The seasons are out of alignment, the world is upside down and lovesick silliness ensues. The fairy kingdom is a dark, brooding underbelly of the woods. A Noise Within’s bold, out-of- the box concept for this age-old love story is certainly a worthy spectacle, though sometimes at the expense of the story itself. Then again, the course of true love never did run smooth.
A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena. Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sat.-Sun., 2 pm, Thurs. Nov. 2nd, 8 p.m., thru Nov. 22nd. https://anoisewithin.org. Running time: two hours and 30 minutes with one intermission.
