Surrounded by venerable old trees and rolling
meadows, the Prospect Park Tennis House Pavilion with its classic
columns, steps and arches, is the ideal stage for Shakespeare’s
"A Midsummer Night’s Dream." But this has not led The
LITE Company to create a traditional production.
The acronym stands for The Laboratory for International Theatre
Exchange, a name that indicates its dedication to the creation
and performance of new work, as well as the exploration of contemporary
perspectives on traditional dramatic work. Not surprisingly,
their goal is to make theater accessible to new audiences and
to maintain a dialogue between the theater of the past and contemporary
audiences.
Much of this is reflected in this season’s "A Midsummer
Night’s Dream."
Directors Adam Melnick, Peter Campbell and Leigh Anderson have
dressed Shakespeare’s young lovers in the knickers, straw hats
and flapper dresses of the Roaring ’20s. And the Rude Mechanicals
are off-duty park workers (hedge trimmer, lemonade vendor, guard,
etc.) who present a bumbling version of Pyramus and Thisbe that
one suspects would have delighted the Bard himself.
As the sun sets and the fireflies come out, The LITE Company
transports the audience from a summer night in Brooklyn to a
magical world of faeries dressed in gaudy, ragtag clothing. One
longs to kick the padded buttocks of Puck (Jennifer Bryan), that
ultimate prankster, as she wreaks mayhem among the lovers by
pouring love-juice into the wrong eyes at the wrong time.
But what makes this "Midsummer Night’s Dream" particularly
pleasing is the fine acting and direction that captures all the
mischievous good humor and slapstick comedy of those bawdy Elizabethan
times. The LITE Company, which last year unearthed the comic
irony in Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet" at the same
venue, this year brings its trademark physicality to "A
Midsummer Night’s Dream."
Strongly influenced by commedia dell’arte and vaudeville, this
troupe of men and women make merry on the lawn in front of the
pavilion, and sometimes even mingle with the audience, searching
for a missing comrade or going about their duties as park attendants.
Helena (Amalie Ceen) pursues Demetrius (David Gochfeld), the
unwilling object of her affections, with the willful exuberance
of the great Lucille Ball. Lysander (Trevor Davis) and Demetrius,
both of whom are now enamored of Helena thanks to Puck’s ministrations,
battle over Helena with a rolled-up umbrella. Sharon Cinnamon
makes an agile and highly amusing flip from Hermia the sought
after to Hermia the rejected.
The two young couples cavort and cavil, proclaim their love and
pursue their lovers with a zany disregard for propriety.
The two older couples, Thesus, Duke of Athens and his betrothed,
Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons; and Oberon, king of the faeries
and his estranged queen Titania, are played by the same actors,
Ayinde Hurrey and Lisa Maher, which at the same time enhances
and obscures the difference between magic and reality.
When, at last, swains and damsels, king and queen are united
with their true loves, the park workers remind the audience that
love, like drama, can be made to entertain.
Under the direction of founder and artistic director Adam Melnick,
The LITE Company also produces the Chekov NOW Festival, now in
its third year, at the Connelly Theater in Manhattan’s East Village.
Other major productions include a revival of Carlo Gozzi’s political
satire "The King Stag" (1998) as well as company original
works: "Camp Holocaust" (1997 and 2000) and "The
Master of Prayer" (2001).
Shakespeare’s robust comedies and eloquent tragedies have all
too often suffered under the hands of misguided directors who
feel compelled to take away or add to the playwright’s original
script. Fortunately, The LITE Company has understood how to balance
creativity with caution and revision with respect. The result
is a sparkling, witty production that brings out the best of
Elizabethan England in a contemporary Brooklyn setting.
A serious matter
It has often been said that tragedy shows humankind at its noblest,
when human beings struggle to overcome fate, circumstance or
their own weakness. Comedy, on the other hand, reveals us at
our most base, exposing all our faults, frailty and foolishness
in a most unfavorable light. In fact, it is this very breach
between what we are and what we believe we should be that is
the source of laughter.
That being said, comedy is also the most elusive and subjective
of dramatic elements. Is Charlie Chaplin’s sentimentality funny
or maudlin? Is Buster Keaton’s stoicism amusing or heroic? Is
Lenny Bruce’s outrageousness satirical or sadistic? Indeed, we
all cry when we are truly happy, and as anyone who has ever witnessed
hysteria will readily attest, anxiety and sorrow often look a
great deal like mirth.
The Vortex Theater company calls its "If Fool Thou Art,"
now premiering at the Brooklyn Lyceum, "an evening of new
comedies." The four original works include "Anonymous"
and "Toto," two cameo pieces that portray theatrical
life, written and performed by Laura Taylor; "Obligation,"
a skit written by Roger Rifkin and starring Jennifer Brooke Hamburg
as a working actress and Rita Rehn as a prospective agent interviewing
her; and "The Murder of Joyce Carol Oates," a one-act
that offers a behind-the-scenes study of how a play is produced.
All these pieces are certainly entertaining. DJ McDonald’s direction
is excellent, the actors’ timing is usually right, and the cast
has admirable mastery over the facial, physical and tonal expression
of their material. But does this result in sidesplitting or even
chuckling humor? This reviewer thinks not.
"Anonymous" is the monologue of a young woman who introduces
herself as a "ho," and then goes on to explain why.
She sleeps with men she doesn’t especially like, lies to them
about their sexual prowess and is willing to do almost anything
they want. She doesn’t do this for money; far worse, she does
it because she is lonely and desperate. Unfortunately, for many
people, this is far too close to the plight of too many real
women to be funny.
"Obligation" is about the cynicism and insensitivity
of theatrical agents who dangle the carrot of representation
in front of actors who are victims of their own ambitions and
egos. So what else is new?
"Toto" is a fantasy about a dog that years ago starred
as Toto in "The Wizard of Oz," although she really
wanted to be Dorothy. In the end, she acknowledges, "I never
had a chance." Her mother had conspired with the director
and even tied her hair into pigtails that looked like dog ears.
You don’t have to be a dog lover to find this more sad than funny.
"The Murder of Joyce Carol Oates" is based on Thomas
Jackson’s experiences during years of staging the theater works
of this formidable contemporary American writer. It’s filled
with inside and not-so-inside jokes about theatrical life – the
superstitions, exhibitionism and competitive nature of actors,
method acting, the obtuseness of scripts. Doubtless some actors
may groan and grin when the director (John Patrick Nord) explains
that tech people have to be paid because they work for money,
while actors, who have loftier goals, can do without.
However, Jackson’s play has little of the universal appeal found
in Michael Frayn’s "Noises Off" or Ken Ludwig’s "Moon
Over Buffalo."
If tragedy demands empathy, the viewer’s ability to put himself
in the place of the protagonist and feel pity, fear and sorrow,
comedy demands recognition and distance. The viewer must find
the characters and situations familiar but be more willing to
laugh at or with the victim than sympathize with his plight.
Comedy views life through a special ironic prism, distorting
it in a way that is often delightfully cruel.
The problem with the shorter pieces in "If Fool Thou Art"
is that, for the most part, there’s too much life and not enough
prism, so that this reviewer found herself more often sympathizing
with the characters than laughing at them.
The problem with "The Murder of Joyce Carol Oates"
is that it is much too specific to the theater experience for
the average viewer. Taken out of context, the characters just
aren’t funny enough.
Does all this mean that "If Fool Thou Art" is not worthwhile
theater? Not at all. "If Fool Thou Art" may not be
belly laugh comedy, but it does have its moments – mostly when
the performers triumph over their scripts. Hopefully, this truly
talented troupe will find better material next time around.
"A Midsummer Night’s Dream"
plays through Aug. 12, Thursdays and Fridays at 7 pm, Sundays
at 2 pm and 5 pm. All performances are free and open to the public.
Viewers are encouraged to bring blankets or folding chairs. To
get to the Prospect Park Tennis House, enter the park at Ninth
Street and Prospect Park West and cross the West Drive. For more
information, including rain dates, call the hotline: (212) 414-7773.
"If Fool Thou Art" continues through Aug. 8, Thursdays
and Saturdays at 8 pm at The Brooklyn Lyceum (227 Fourth Ave.
at President Street). Tickets: $15. For reservations, call (718)
857-4816.
