Quintessence’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ shines with its top notch cast

William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the story of fairies, star-crossed lovers, nobility, and blue-collar workers with middling theatrical talent. It has been adapted into every possible medium but still feels best on stage.

Quintessence Theatre’s current production is an homage to the joys this show can bring, with fast-paced staging and jokes that sometimes land and sometimes don’t.

Where Quintessence’s production shines brightest is in its top-notch cast. The whole ensemble is wonderful, with Deanna S. Wright as Hippolyta/Oberon and Christopher Patrick Mullen as Theseus/Titania being true standouts. Each brings a humor, regality, and sense of play to their characters that is engaging to watch and enjoy.

At its core, Midsummer relies on the strengths of the four lovers, and this production is no exception. All the lovers have their moments to shine, with the staging and fight choreography being wonderfully exciting throughout (especially in Act II!).

Steven Anthony Wright is hilarious as Nick Bottom, the weaver turned donkey who is the object of the fairy queen’s affection. The choice to make him look heavier with padding in a 2025 production, however, felt antiquated, and did not add much to the story.

Director Alex Burns does a good job of keeping the staging fast-paced throughout, while also letting the comedy have space to breathe. He uses the theater effectively to convey all the shifting locations this play covers. Lighting design by John Burkland also helped that, and his fun use of moving lights and gobos during magical sequences was admirable.

While it’s a strong production overall, there is a borderline vulgar sense of humor running through it. Now, make no mistake, Midsummer is arguably one of Shakespeare’s most innuendo-laden works, which is perhaps why some of the more physical gags or hand gestures take away from the nuances of that tongue-in-cheek humor. It felt like an attempt to overexplain the language on display, which unfortunately robs the comedy of its written wit and swaps it for gag humor.

Quintessence’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream succeeds on the merits of its truly talented cast and some wonderfully exciting-to-watch staging and catfights. Its weaknesses don’t stop it from being an entertaining watch.

(Community/Arts)

A Shakespeare favorite with fairies, star-crossed lovers, nobility, and blue-collar workers with middling theatrical talent has been adapted into every possible medium, but it still feels best on stage.

⌚️ Through April 26, 📍 7137 Germantown Ave., 🌐 quintessencetheatre.org

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