Theater Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Dallas’ Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre (July 29)

by Catherine Cuellar

DALLAS — A Midsummer Night's Dream is a clever confection containing a big wink at the audience via its play-within-a-play, Pyramus and Thisbe, which inspired the Bard's Romeo and Juliet. Junior Players' 2008 season-closing collaboration with Shakespeare Dallas sees this conceit and raises it a twist with Bollywood-style choreographed musical numbers — featuring the cast of more than two dozen teenagers lipsyncing to half a dozen songs from Hindi movie soundtracks.

The length of both Bollywood musicals and Shakespearean plays can be daunting, and this adaptation, directed by Valerie Hauss-Smith, clocks in at just under three hours (including one 15 minute intermission). With temperatures in the low 90s on opening night, the cast's traditional Indian costumes were perfect. Fanciful fairies with names like Masala, Tumeric, Saffron, Curry, and Mustardseed wear traditional salwar kameez in brilliant jewel tones. Puck (Isaac Fullinwider), who delights in meddling in the love lives of mortals, is recast as mischievous young Krishna.

These young talents are definitely top among their peers, kicking the production level up a few notches from even the best high school musical. Lovestruck leading ladies Renee Strecker as Hermia and Raven Garcia as Helena stole their every scene, as did Fairy King and Queen Denica Baltimore and Miriam Kuzbary (in an inspired bit of casting). The material also plays to the cast's strengths, with the aforementioned melodrama including a super-silly Patrick Ehrlicher (as gruff bellows-mender Flute) in drag as Thisbe, and John Colgin's ridiculously hammy death scene in-character as Pyramus. But Colgin got the show's biggest cheers of the night when he actually sang "Mera Joota Hai Japani" from Shree 420 and "Kal Ho Naa Ho" (from the film of the same name), proving how many true Bollywood fans were in the house.

A Midsummer Night's Dream's warm reception by audience members who weren't related to cast members demonstrated how successful this production has already been in helping a classic comedy reach new local audiences through the FunAsia newsletter and Salaam Namaste radio. Just when crowds might begin to fade from too much iambic pentameter, dance scenes enliven and rejuvenate them. For those unfamiliar with the genre, the program provides English song translations, proving how apt Vikas Adam's inspired sound design really is. Although admission is free, a donation of $7 per person is requested at the gate. Performances continue through Sunday.