It’s been more than 10 years since Richmond Shakespeare staged a full production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” even though it is regularly cited as one of the Bard’s most popular plays.
Why the long delay? Maybe the company thought their 2021 production of “The Bottom Show,” an original script constructed out of selected scenes from “Dream,” would satisfy any latent “Midsummer” demand.
As hilarious as the 2021 show was, it lacked the complex and captivating love quadrangle that is the heart and highlight of the latest production. Director James Ricks has found four fetching actors that make the romantic merry-go-round a consistent delight as the complications spiral.
Getting the most laughs out of the foursome is Paisley LoBue who plays Helena, a young Athenian who is hopelessly in love with Demetrius (Gordon Graham) who, in turn, has fallen for Hermia (Erin Chaves). Hermia, however, has secretly agreed to marry badboy Lysander (Erich Appleby).
When the betrothed couple escapes to the enchanted woods outside Athens where fairies hold sway, they fall victim to the love potion-wielding sprite, Puck (Abe Timm). Thanks to Puck, both men who had been enamored with Hermia eventually become besotted with Helena and much comic mayhem ensues.
LoBue’s initial complaints as Helena is rudely overlooked by Demtrius are funny but her increasingly hysterical reactions to the feverish attention of both men are laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Appleby continues a summer of playing steamy self-aware hunks (he was Christian in RichShakes’ “Cyrano de Bergerac”) with enough charisma to set many hearts aflutter. A relative newcomer to Richmond, Chaves shows deft comic chops that transcend any simple ingénue tropes her character could fall into.
While the plot gives Demetrius fewest chances to shine, Graham makes a fine impression just the same, the whiplash quick changes in his affections another comedic highlight.
Ricks has fashioned the two couples with 1950s wardrobe, hairstyles and attitude, such that Appleby and Chaves in particular could have walked straight out of a production of “Grease.” The foursome breaking into a flawless a capella rendition of “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” brings the house down.
Music director Elle Meerovich bolsters the show’s ‘50s vibe with other sterling hits like “Blue Moon” and “In the Heat of the Night,” the latter which they deliver themself with bracing gusto. This ends up being a show worth seeing for its musicality alone.
It being Shakespeare, there are of course at least two other major plotlines woven in with the romantic entanglement. Oberon, the Duke of Athens (Arik Cullen), plans a wedding to his betrothed, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons (Jianna Hurt) while their complements in the fairy world, Theseus and Titania (also Cullen and Hurt) squabble over possession of a “changeling” child.
Caught in the crossfire of that squabble are the “mechanicals,” outrageously bad actors who are preparing to perform for the Duke and Queen. First among the troupe is Bottom, a self-aggrandizing showboat played by Ricks, who is transformed into an ass by Puck and becomes an object of adoration by the love potion-addled Titania.
Cullen and Hurt are spectacularly regal in their dual roles, with Hurt also delivering a knockout song late in the show. Just the physical disparity between the towering Cullen and the diminutive Ames, beguilingly impish as his minion Puck, helps cement the otherworldly charm of the fairy realm.
While the troupe of mechanicals has many moments of true hilarity, the production ends with their overlong performance of a play within a play for the Duke and his wife. I’ve seen versions of “Dream” effectively trimmed to 90 minutes so, as this production stretches toward 2 and a half hours, some of the enchantment dissipates.
That said, the number of standout scenes here, ranging from LoBue’s uproarious lamentations to Meerovich’s winning musical moments, make this production a uniquely sweet “Dream,” well worth braving the heat to enjoy.
Richmond Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” plays through July 20 at Agecroft Hall, 4305 Sulgrave Road. Tickets and more information available at https://richmondshakespeare.org/.
