By A.L. Haynes, Contributing Writer
Thanks to The Old Globe, we can no longer say nothing good came out of the ongoing CoVId-19 pandemic. In 2020, while most were moldering in the lockdown, The Old Globe took major steps to shift into true inclusivity with their “What Is Theatre Now?” initiative.
New (as of 2021) Globe Resident artists Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, James Vasquez, and Patricia McGregor were all part of the initiative, and have not disappointed. Part of a continuing crescendo of award-worthy, diversely-cast shows, W. Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Old Globe reimagines The Dream with a contemporary beat.
Featuring a DJ and contemporary, American-English asides, the brightly-colored spectacle makes Shakespeare accessible for anyone. Purposely designed with both traditional features and an Afrofuturism aesthetic, the comic book-esque opening fight sequence both provides background and sets the tone for one of Shakespeare’s most mad-cap adventures. This is Director Patricia McGregor’s second time directing The Dream in San Diego (she directed the 2018 Globe for All tour).She cited San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel movies, Alexander McQueen, Burning Man, and Afro-punk as inspirations that went into the set, costuming, and staging of this expanded production.
Acknowledged as one of Shakespeare’s greatest masterpieces, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (often called The Dream for short) is written to reflect a dream in the way it abruptly jumps between scenes, people, and circumstances, seamlessly melding the realistic with the improbable. The Old Globe not only preserves the carefully crafted dream-logic ambience, but enhances it with David Israel Reynoso and Stephen Strawbridge’s background features, lighting, and costumes. In the best Shakespearean tradition, the main stage remains largely bare throughout the show.
This is certainly not the first time The Old Globe has presented The Dream. In 1937, two years after opening, The Old Globe presented a version of The Dream, and has produced it periodically since. This is at least the 11th incarnation of the show, but it manages to feel new even for fans of the play. Focusing on the interpersonal relationships between characters rather than the fantastical nature of the circumstances, the audience is able to enter into the world of the play without being turned away by the old-fashioned language style.
While the main cast is magnificent, a special homage must be paid to the actors of the play within this play. Shakespeare’s ridiculously sarcastic nod to amateur theatre occurs at the end of the play in the form of “The most lamentable comedy, and most cruel death of
Pyramus and Thisby” (later retitled “A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus and his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth”). By sheer dint of talent, Becca Lustgarten (Quince), Jake Millgard (Bottom), Jude Tibeau (Snug), Nathan Vanatta (Flute), Savannah Faye (Starveling), & Komi M. Gbeblewou (Snout) make the farce of a play substantial enough to seem worthy to be produced in its own right.
Scheduled to run until September 4th and with tickets starting as low as $30, the midsummer presentation of A Midsummer NIght’s Dream is a refreshing and enchanting breath of air for teens and adults to enjoy.
 Globe Resident artists Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, James Vasquez, and Patricia McGregor were all part of the initiative, and have not disappointed. Part of a continuing crescendo of award-worthy, diversely-cast shows, W. Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Old Globe reimagines The Dream with a contemporary beat.){kind=link}