A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM by William Shakespeare (Frolick/Feed Your City). On the Big Carrot green roof (348 Danforth). To July 31. Pwyc-$35. Frolick.ca. See listing Rating: NNN
In the big carrot’s rooftop garden, food, music and dancing put the (organic, locally made) shake in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The show starts with an engagement and ends with a wedding, and in that spirit Frolick Theatre’s leisurely production emphasizes the festive. Benefiting Feed Your City, it’s a casual all-evening affair, with raw vegan food made by the Living Kitchen easing you into the summery comedy.
In a hippie-ish Athens, Theseus and Hippolyta announce their engagement just as four young friends and wannabe lovers are at odds with each other and a controlling dad. The two who love each other, Hermia (Anna Fin) and Lysander (Zack Lathrop) are forbidden to marry, while Helena (Teodora Porumb) pines for Demetrius (Dwayne Wilson), who scorns her affections.
Taking to the forest, mischievous fairies first complicate and then reconcile the four, and it all ends with a triple wedding, a play and, in Frolick’s production, moonlight dancing beside human-sized lotus flowers.
This Dream isn’t about textual precision. There is, however, some endearing pageantry thanks to long sequences of interpretive/freestyle/belly dancing and Beverly Law’s eclectic Indo-Middle Eastern-inspired costumes.
Matthew Krist, multi-tasking as director, producer and the amusingly thick Nick Bottom, invests the language with clarity and charisma, qualities that much of the otherwise likeable cast lacks.
Still, the four lovers bring vivid joy and youthfulness to their love-you, hate-you fluctuations, and the breezy rooftop, surrounded by blossoming plants and flowers, lends a refreshing openness to the event. It’s nice just being there. Mingle with the cast and crew before this sweet, green Dream starts.
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