With its many characters and overlapping storylines, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ can be a lot to keep track of onstage.
Four lovers fall in and out of love, fairies meddle in their affairs, and a group of amateur actors attempts to stage a play of their own. The ingredients are there for comedy, but bringing all that chaos together – and making it feel clear and funny – is another matter.
That makes Repertory Philippines’ return to Shakespeare an interesting one. The company last staged Shakespeare’s work in 2008 with “Hamlet,” making “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” its first Shakespeare production in 18 years. Directed by Jeremy Domingo, the production stays largely faithful to the original text, aiming to bring out Shakespeare’s wit, double entendres and sarcasm.
At first, Rep’s staging of Bard’s comedy feels very much by the book. The verses are intact, the English retains its Shakespearean formality, to the point that the commitment to the original language can occasionally make the wit harder to catch. Eventually, though, the production finds its footing, slipping in a few playful choices that catch you off guard while keeping the classic at its center.
The most immediate example comes through the music. Familiar songs occasionally replace more expected musical cues, with ‘Dancing in the Moonlight,’ or ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ emerging amid Shakespeare’s dialogue. These work as small comic winks without turning Midsummer into a musical. The four young Athenian lovers get a similar treatment. Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius look less like figures from a classical comedy and more like young people who might have wandered in from Poblacion or BGC. Their contemporary styling makes their romantic mess feel familiar.
The performances are where the production’s comedy comes most clearly into focus.
Joey Cosio-Mercado’s Puck is an immediate scene-stealer, bringing mischief and physical comedy to the fairy responsible for much of the chaos. His slightly strange, almost shroom-like look suits the character, while his quirky delivery and Puck-isms give him a playful independence.
He follows Oberon’s commands, but always seems to find his own way of doing so – at times visibly disgruntled, which adds another layer to his otherwise mischievous character. There is something fitting about the character who gets to observe all this chaos and declare, in Shakespeare’s own words, ‘What fools these mortals be!’
That chaos reaches one of its funniest stretches when Puck’s mistake with the love potion makes Lysander fall for Helena. Luis Marcelo makes the sudden shift in Lysander’s affections particularly funny, fully committing to his new love as if Hermia had never existed. His reactions help the absurdity of the lovers’ mix-up land.
Meanwhile, the fairy world has its own share of drama. Randy Villarama’s Oberon and Lesley Leveriza Lina’s Titania bring temper and mischief to the quarrelling fairy couple, with their experience showing in the confidence and control they bring to the language.
Tristan Bite makes the most of Bottom’s ridiculousness, while the Mechanicals deliver the comedy built into their material. Their performances give these characters the full comic treatment they call for, making them one of the production’s most dependable sources of laughs.
The direction also finds ways to keep the stage in motion. The staircase at the center of the set becomes a useful playground for the four lovers, giving their chase, quarrels and shifting affections more physicality. Their constant running up and down the steps adds energy to scenes that could otherwise become long stretches of dialogue, while giving the romantic chaos a sense of movement.
If there is a drawback, it is that the play’s different worlds can sometimes feel less distinct. The Athenians, fairies and Mechanicals occupy different parts of the story, but the reliance on projected visuals does not always give those spaces a strong enough visual identity. In a play built around the contrast between the ordered world of Athens and the unruly forest, a clearer visual distinction could have sharpened the production’s sense of place.
Still, REP’s staging shows it doesn’t need to reinvent Shakespeare to make “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” feel alive. Its small contemporary touches give the old text room to surprise without losing what makes it a classic. And if, as Puck says, the shadows have been offended by a few unexpected pop hits along the way, perhaps they can forgive REP for finding new ways to let an old comedy have a little fun today.
Repertory Philippines’ staging of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” runs until September 27 at Saint Cecilia’s Hall in St. Scholastica’s College, Manila.