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REVIEW: Riverside Theatre's 'Dream' delivers

By Amy Jacobus

Thinking back to my high school lit classes, I remember cringing a bit when my teachers asked us to pull out our copies of "Romeo and Juliet" or "Hamlet." I would read a few pages of the play, pause and realize I hadn’t retained anything substantial. A couple of feuding families? Something about a ghost? Huh?

It always took a few scenes to grow accustomed to the rhythm and the language of Shakespeare’s work — to begin to imagine the action with only words on a page as my guide. An avid reader (and rather fiercely competitive in all things academic), I hated that initial struggle with the text. I wanted to get it right away — without class discussion or marginal notes and character descriptions.

Of course, everyone knows Shakespeare is meant to be spoken aloud. Why high school curriculum often requires these silent, private readings of the great playwright’s work is beyond me. It just makes so much more sense on stage.

And this see-it-on-stage advice becomes all the more evident at Riverside Theatre’s summer festival production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Even when the heightened language threatens to befuddle those of us now accustomed to a world of “wazzzzup”s and text messaging acronyms (TTYL, BFF!!), Riverside’s company delivers the lines with the meticulous care necessary to convey their meaning.

No need to pack your CliffsNotes.

The cast, now at a comfortable point mid-run, is clearly well-rehearsed. Even more obvious, though, is its dedication to the play’s complexity, tenor and wit. Under the steady direction of Riverside Theatre's Ron Clark, each actor emphasizes the right words and speaks with an operative intonation, painstakingly plotted to achieve the desired effect: the laugh.

The celebrated comedy, more than two hours in length, persists at a rolling, rapid pace. The Riverside Theatre Festival Stage in Iowa City's Lower City Park, inundated by floodwater from the Iowa River last year, is now more appropriately awash in a rushing current of words.

Keeping up to speed on the complicated subplots and knotty character relationships could still prove difficult when relying on intonation alone. But the talented cast members inhabit their roles with an admirable physical intensity. Nick Bottom, portrayed brilliantly by the hilarious Patrick Dulaney, carries himself with such pomp that he seems to fill the stage whenever he steps foot on it. His gestures are wild and emphatic, with just the right dose of over-the-topness. Francis Flute, on the other hand, played by Dennis Fox, grabs attention with subtle postural shifts and deadpan glares. Assigned a woman’s role in the tradespeople’s play, Flute’s first attempt at walking in high heels, cigar dangling from his mouth, is one of many of the evening’s side-splitting moments.

The four lovers each demonstrate their affection with behavior appropriate to their individual characters. Lysander (John Watkins) dotingly and airily reads poetry from his diary. Hermia (Dawn Michelle Mancarella) bounces about when she nears her love, staring dreamily off in the distance. Demetrius (Bradley Anderson) remains rather stoic until he falls under the spell of Puck’s love potion, after which his character begins to sashay around the space, prancing around on his tiptoes and garnering giggles from the audience.

But it was Helena (Mallory Portnoy) who earned the most laughter of the four. And rightly so. Portnoy is a veteran of the role, having played Helena in three other productions of “Midsummer.” As Helena became increasingly more flustered with her single-girl predicament, she shed layers of clothing, her hair grew noticeably tousled and her sarcasm escalated to a level unmatched by her peers. At one point, she lies on her side and attempts to allure Demetrius by gawkily waggling a leg in the air. Her efforts are both pitiful and persuasive, simply uproarious.

The action doesn’t stop onstage but also transforms the surrounding area, using the park grounds adjacent to the Elizabethan-style venue as setting for the journeys happening out of the spotlight. Hermia gingerly strolls along a grassy path with her parasol poised daintily over one shoulder. Puck (Martin Andrews) dashes from one site of mischief to the next. Lysander wanders amorously, his head buried in a small journal presumably filled with heartfelt sonnets and records of Hermia’s beauty.

Riverside has taken a minimal set, elegant costuming and dedicated actors and completely converted the familiar Iowa City park into a convincingly whimsical wood.

My only complaint is that the come-hither dance performances of the otherwise playfully slinking fairies seemed absurd and inorganic. But given that these sequences make up mere seconds of the lengthy production, I highly advise you to buy your tickets now.

Non-English majors encouraged to attend. Shakespeare isn’t so scary when it’s this well-performed. And this production had me LMAO.

Remaining performances of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" are scheduled for June 25, 28 and 30 and July 2, 3, 7, 8, 11 and 12. Ticket information here.