by Mary L. Clark of John Garcia's The Column

Dallas Theater Center's production is filled with love unrequited, mistaken, exaggerated, and conquered all in a fantastical, fairy-laden evening of color and song.

All week long I kept getting more and more excited about attending the Dallas Theater Center's opening night of their new season at their exquisite new theater, which expands even more our Arts District – whee!

Everyone was there -- you know all the who's who and the la-de-dahs, the old and nouveau riche, the entrepreneurs, movers and shakers. In point, all the people with whom I don't usually hang. Mix in several high school students and some hippie baby boomers and the people watching was grand. I say all that to emphasize the audience was as much a part of A Midsummer Night's Dream as the play itself.

Many people I spoke to thought, and the theater's press release confirmed, that Kevin Moriarty, DTC's Artistic Director, planned A Midsummer Night's Dream as "a celebration of the power of theater and the perfect play to open DTC's new house..." There was plenty of time for more serious plays later on, so let the party begin.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy. Dallas Theater Center's production is filled with love unrequited, mistaken, exaggerated, and conquered all in a fantastical, fairy-laden evening of color and song.

For Shakespeare novices, I will attempt an extremely edited synopsis. In Moriarty's own edited version, A Midsummer Night's Dream revolves around the wedding of Duke Theseus and Hippolyta (remember, this is set in Athens). Hermia's mother attempts to marry her to Demetrius though Hermia loves Lysander.

When threatened with execution or a nunnery if she does not comply, both Hermia and Lysander run away towards an eventual elopement. Helena, on the other hand, still loves Demetrius even after he spurned her for Hermia. When she finds out about the plan, Helena tells Demetrius who goes after Hermia and all find themselves wandering in the woods. Residents of those woods are the king and queen of the fairies who have been arguing.

For friendly revenge, king Oberon has his mischievous servant, Puck, place a spell on Queen Titania to fall for the first person or thing she sees. Puck accidentally puts Lysander under the same spell and he falls for Helena instead of Hermia. Puck tries to undo his mistake, ending with both men in love with Helena. She thinks she is being mocked, all scorn Hermia, and everyone goes back "into the woods" (couldn't help myself).

The third group in our play is five craftsmen rehearsing their own small play in hopes of being rewarded as the Duke's wedding entertainment. Puck mockingly turns one of them into an ass with whom Titania sees and falls madly in love. Oberon has Puck reverse all spells, each couple finds their true love, the ass is made mortal and three weddings commence. The play within a play is performed with hilarious results, the fairies give their blessings and Puck asks all to remember the play as if it had been a dream. Got it?

The set, as we first observed it, was a simple thrust stage with center platform, black and white checkerboard flooring and a blank gray back wall. The purpose for this soon became apparent.

If you prefer observing theater in the dark, then are you in for a surprise. This production was not for the faint of notice. The lights were up and the audience was placed in full-participation mode. Ladders were set upstage and, as the play progresses, I came to realize the entire theater was the set, with ladders placed at all sides running up to the balconies.

This became one of the most physical plays I believe I had seen. Actors constantly climbed those ladders, hung over and from the balconies, tight rope walked across the backs of seats, climbed over and through the audience and entered and exited at a dead run. Then there was the chalk. Lots and lots of white chalk. In an ode to New York's original subway graffiti artist, Keith Haring, all the characters, especially the fairies, splattered graffiti on the floor, the back wall, the balcony walls, and pretty much anything not moving with fanciful designs that were appropriate to the play and its magic.

While the set was neutral, the costumes were anything but. The youthful lovers were dressed pretty much like those you would see coming out of high school doors. They wore a bright, vibrant-colored mix and match of mini skirts, tights, jackets, hoodies, cargos, jeans, sneakers, and boots. Silk screened emblems on the clothes seemed to distinguish the mortals from the others.

In keeping with the contemporary twist, music was straight off the radio from the Black Eyed Peas to Jay Sean and became sing-a-longs for those who knew the words. Audience participation was joyfully encouraged. The brave joined in some brief scenes and, at intermission, all were invited to graffiti at will. This became free form art at its finest and the artist in all of us came out to play.

In casting A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dallas Theater Center assembled 20 actors entirely from the Dallas area – members of the Resident Acting Company and students from SMU's Meadows School of the Arts and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. These actors of varied experiences came together as a team. In as such, it was difficult to separate them but, as is usually the case, a few gave stand out performances.

Both Abbey Siegworth as Helena and Lee Trull as Lysander allowed me to hear and understand Shakespeare's words anew. The lines became clearer, more pertinent, and more current. Siegworth also is a naturally born physical comedian.

Liz Mikel as Titania had Queen Latifah's sassiness and smarts. Something in her last words and facial expression suddenly brought on a lump in my throat and tear to my eye.

I was delighted by all five of the fairy servants – Dexter Hostetter from SMU and Mallory Brophy, Graham Dudley, Amber Pickens, and Alexander Ferguson from Booker T. Washington. Beginning and ending several scenes, they injected freshness and light to the stage and kept that all-important energy alive. I must mention Matthew Gray as Tom Snout. He stood in for Cameron Leighton Kirkpatrick with a little over 24 hours notice and performed preview week through opening weekend. Gray came totally prepared, never wavered through complex staging and performed admirably. Kudos.

When you are looking in the dictionary for the word ham, next to it just might be a picture of Chamblee Ferguson. As craftsman, Nick Bottom and well-loved donkey around town, Ferguson strained the phrase "over the top" to the max. Just as Bottom wants to do more and more with his role as Pyramus, Ferguson kept going a little further, a little further – OK, a lot further. Actually, it was so much more that I began to forget what I was watching. This was my only true criticism. The beginning of the play was easy to follow and current tie-ins were clear. However, after awhile there were so many modern twists, contemporary mannerisms, and pantomimes that I got caught up in the action and lost the glorious words.

I commend scenic designer Beowulf Boritt for making his set a blank canvas upon which the actors figuratively and literally painted the scenes. Claudia Stephens' costumes were upbeat, playful, and colorful, giving specific styling so even a character with few lines was easily identifiable. Neon found its wayboth subtly and majestically into Tyler Micoleau's lighting design. Surprising nuances were found all over the set to our delight.

Sound design was by The Broken Chord Collective, and what fun it was. By the end we simply had to get up and sing and dance to the music.

I'm not going to give away the amazing ending but, suffice to say, it brought "party on" to a whole new place!

Dallas Theater Center's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream is part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national initiative (sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest).

In remembering the recent passing of Paul Baker, the founder of the Dallas Theater Center and founding principal of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, I believe he would have loved an initiative called Shakespeare for a New Generation. This theater understands that only by initiating each new generation can they then "engage, entertain and inspire a diverse community." A Midsummer Night's Dream does all three and Dallas Theater Center eagerly opens its new doors for all the generations to come.

What do you think?