Other stand out performances include Jessica McHugh as Snug with her carpenter’s belt filled with grooming tools: hairbrushes, curling irons, and nail files; Sally Song as Titania’s Peaseblossom sits enrapt by the foolish mortals as if she herself were enchanted rather than the enchanter; and Natasha Murray moves with a dancer’s grace in the sometimes claustrophobic space of the theatre/Athens forest.
Sajeev Pillai as Lysander is one of the highlights of the production. The actor has a half-smile on his face that doesn’t come off as a smirk but rather as an existential joy. Even when impeded in his pursuit of Hermia (Heidi Zenz), Lysander’s good humor speaks of an essential elation that is sheer charisma. No wonder Hermia would risk death to run away with him. Her choice? Demetrius or death? She picks Lysander, of course.
Tonight may be the closing night, but this will be the temporary finish to the production which has plans of continuing the course of love that never runs smooth in Saratoga Springs in November. Produced by Nanette Asher, this A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an energetic, enthusiastic rendition of one of William Shakespeare’s most self-referential and funniest plays. As the director cites in his notes, “beart de réir ár mbriathar," Gaelic for “action to match our speech.” With occasional exception, this play's action matches the speech, and young violinist (fiddler?) Kyrian Friedenberg as the Changeling Child, the source of Titania and Oberon’s parental power struggle, brings a lovely reflection on the director’s intent at a Celtic re-imagining of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Remaining cast: Melissa Damas (Mustardseed), Anna Wallace-Deering (Moth), Steven Martin (Theseus), Patrick Mahoney (Peter Quince), Sarah Pencheff (Starveling), Ross Pivec (Egeus), John E. Sims (Snout), Lee Solomon (Flute), Emily Stokes (Hippolyta,Cobweb). Tara Mary Schmitt (Stage Manager).
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